An American Werewolf in UA
by chadtayor020
Summary: The past of Kayama Nemuri, better known as The 18 Plus Hero Midnight, comes back to haunt her after the death of her first love. She must now work to find a way to balance being a teacher, hero, and mother to two orphaned children. As one, Marie, strives to become a Hero in U.A. High, they both will face challenges together as they try to become the family they need.
1. Chapter 1

**An American Werewolf in U.A.**

 **Chapter 1: The Past Catches Up**

 **Midnight**

 ** _She ran through the halls of the hospital. No one was listening to her as she ran after them. "My baby! Give me back my baby!" she screamed at them. Her Quirk wasn't working, the people she was after kept on moving, her baby crying for her. "Stop!" she screamed, trying to force her body to move faster, but no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't reach them. "GIVE HER BACK!" she screamed one last time, as the door closed behind them. She kicked the door open, to see nothing, no baby, no kidnappers, only the Void…_**

Kayama Nemuri awoke to the sound of her alarm clock going off. She turned it off and shook her head, her long raven hair shaking violently. "That old nightmare…I haven't had that dream in years," she said aloud as she got out of her King Size bed, for pajamas she just wore a large sweater and a pair of underwear. She put on her slippers and civilian glasses before heading to the kitchen for a quick breakfast of coffee and toast with strawberry jam. While she waited for the coffee to brew, the pro hero stretched herself out, needing to stay flexible for her job. She was just thankful that it was Summer, another year of teaching finished at good old U.A. High and a few weeks of extra sleep in the morning for her. The coffee was done just as she finished stretching.

After adding some milk and sugar she took a deep gulp of the coffee, waking her brain up. _Alright, today's my rest day from exercise, just a quick run for cardio, shower, then relax the rest of the day. I wonder if any of my Boys wants to spend a little extra time with his Mistress…_ A sadistic glow filled her eyes as she licked her lips at the idea, before her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. Nemuri went to the door and pressed the speaker next to it, couldn't be too careful. "Who is it?" "Is this Kayama Nemuri?" came a woman's voice on the other end, she spoke Japanese with an American accent. "Yes, who are you?" Nemuri asked through the speaker. "My name is Lina Bowers, I'm an attorney for someone you know, Mr. Joseph J. Freeman," the American on the other end said. Nemuri stopped at that, Joseph J. Freeman…it was a name that she hadn't heard in years.

Nemuri opened the door to see a middle-aged blonde woman with tired green eyes wearing a black 'power suit' and heels waiting on the other end, she carried a brown leather briefcase and looked exhausted, most likely from jetlag. "Come in. I admit, this is unexpected, I haven't heard from Joseph-kun in years," Nemuri invited the lawyer in. "Need some coffee?" Nemuri asked. "Please, at least four sugar, no milk," Lina Bowers asked. Nemuri made her a cup like she asked, and the two women sat down at the small kitchen table in the apartment. "So, what's happened to Joseph-kun?" Nemuri asked. Mrs. Bowers slowly put her coffee cup down and said, "I'm afraid, Mr. Freeman is dead." "What!?" Nemuri yelled. The lawyer continued, "It happened two days ago, he was enjoying lunch with his family, when his…enemy, a Villain called Pyromaniac, attacked with several henchmen. Mr. Freeman was too distracted protecting his family, and was killed along with his wife, Mrs. Mysa Freeman. I'm here, because three days before he was killed, he made a video will, and you were named as one of the beneficiaries."

Nemuri took a moment, it had been so long since she had last seen Joseph, she knew it was possible he would have moved on, and possibly married another woman. To hear that he had died at the hands of someone called 'Pyromaniac' told her that his death was far worse than he deserved. "I'm sorry for your loss," Mrs. Bowers said, "I take it that you were close?" "Only for a year, when we were both in High School. He was a foreign exchange student, and my first boyfriend," Nemuri admitted, hiding her eyes. It had been a long time, but when she had known Joseph, he had been a good man, one who encouraged everyone, no matter how stupid their Quirk seemed, to reach their goal to be heroes. Some called him naïve, but his drive and passion drew her to him like a moth to flame.

"Am I allowed to be at his funeral?" she finally asked after taking a deep breath. "Yes, you are invited to attend. It will be a private funeral, family, friends and invites only," Mrs. Bowers told her. "Thank you," Nemuri said, "Is there anything else?" "Nothing that can't wait until after the funeral, it will be held four days from now, American Eastern Standard Time. You may bring another guest if you'd like, for emotional support," Mrs. Bowers said. "Thank you. I'll need time to make some calls," Nemuri said, and led Mrs. Bowers out the door. After shutting the door, Nemuri took her glasses off, and let the tears fall down her face.

 ** _Four Days Later_**

 ** _Greater Joy United Methodist Church in Summerville, South Carolina, USA_**

For such a somber occasion, the day was bright and cheerful, if very humid. Nemuri was dress in a black suit and veil, while beside her sat Aizawa Shota, aka Underground Hero Eraserhead, he had shaved and styled his long hair into a ponytail and wore a black suit. During the year they knew each other, Aizawa and Joseph had been training partners, he had helped Aizawa clean up his technique greatly, aside from that, he just wanted to be a friend for Nemuri. They were surrounded by people who they didn't know, although many had the look of Pro-Heroes. Two of the mourners were Joseph's children, sixteen-year- old Marie N. Freeman and eight-year-old Joseph J. Freeman Junior.

Marie had subdued the attackers with her Father, but was blinded in the process by Pyromaniac, from what Nemuri and Aizawa had heard Joseph immediately went to help her, and this gave Pyromaniac time to deal the fatal blow to Joseph. Marie had been on her way to following her Father's footsteps in becoming a Pro-Hero, but now that might be gone. The girl wore wrappings around her eyes and held her little brother close and hid most of her face with a broad-rim hat and black veil. Nemuri looked at the large picture beside the coffins that held Joseph and his wife Mysa's bodies. From what she could see, Junior was almost the spitting image of Joseph, his broad nose and strong chin, golden eyes, along with the almost coal black complexion of his skin, the only thing he seemed to have inherited from his Mother was her pure white hair.

Marie however had a lighter complexion, like her Mother's, and thinner lips than her Father, and a more pointed chin. From pictures of Marie, she had once had blue eyes, people said she inherited them from her Grandmother, Eloise Freeman, who had passed away with her husband, Jerome Freeman two years before in a car accident. Nemuri wondered who would take care of the children, apparently Mysa had been an orphan with no siblings, and Joseph was an only child. She was afraid they would be lost in the foster care system. "Kayama, focus, the Eulogy is about to start," Aizawa told her, snapping her out of her thoughts. Nemuri and Aizawa stood up straight as a short, medium built man with a green lizard's head walked forward and stepped up in front of the coffins.

The lizard man cleared his throat and started, "My friends, today is a sad day, for us, and the world at large. Today, we bury a dear comrade in the fight against evil, and his beloved wife, who dedicated her life to helping others heal. Today, we set the bodies of Joseph Jerome Freeman Sr., and his beloved wife Mysa Avi Freeman to rest. I remember the first day I met Joseph, I was a small-time hood, using my Quirk to rob purses. Joseph was the Hero who stopped me. That should have been the end of it, but Joseph saw something in me, something I had forgotten. He saw a small spark of goodness. He came to me in prison, and slowly over time helped me to change my life…"

The lizard man stopped and trembled, Nemuri and Aizawa were sure that maybe he couldn't shed tears, so this was all he could do to show his grief. "Mysa was a great counselor and helped me fight against my inner demons. She always encouraged me to try harder, helped me to get my G.E.D., but most of all, she listened to me, both of them did. It was because of their generosity, their love, and their friendship that I was able to become a good man, a good husband, and a good father. It is a debt that I could never repay. Joseph might not have been famous around the world, he might not have been 'The Symbol of Peace' or 'The Number One Hero', but to me, he will always be the greatest hero I've ever known." The lizard man shook more, before falling to his knees, still shaking. A tall man with turquoise hair and a scar across his nose helped him up. "It's alright, Harry. You're among friends here," the tall man assured him as he led him to his seat. The tall man remained standing and started talking.

"I remember how Mysa would always make Traditional Indian food when I was invited for dinner. I won't lie, I will never be a fan of it, but I always enjoyed Mysa's. She always poured her heart into everything she did, as did Joseph. He told me that he chose 'Wolfheart' as his Hero Name because wolf packs were families, the Alpha Male was the Daddy, Alpha Female the Mommy, and all other wolves were their cubs and others they accepted as family. He told me that Heroes should see all Humanity as part of their Pack, and should fight to help everyone who needed it, like he and Mysa helped Harry. He believed that your Quirk was only a detail, what always mattered was how you used it to help others. Joseph and Mysa lived by that belief…and died by it too. I can only hope to honor them with my life," the tall man said.

Others stepped forward, saying how Joseph, or Mysa, or both had helped them in their times of need. She gathered that Mysa was some kind of therapist, and her Quirk helped calm people she touched or held. Many of those attending comforted the children. Marie accepted their condolences gracefully, but young Joseph Junior had a harder time, and was constantly on the verge of tears or outright crying, holding on to his older sister for support. Eventually, the only ones who hadn't stepped forward with a story to tell were the children, Nemuri, and Aizawa. Aizawa sighed as he stood up and walked in front of the coffins, English was never his best subject in school, although he could speak enough to be understood. "I never knew Mrs. Freeman, from what I've heard she was a good woman, wife, and mother. I only knew Joseph-kun for a year in High School, when he attended as part of a foreign exchange program. He was a friend to everyone that met him, always encouraging with his words and actions, and helping however he could. The hours of training we did together saved my life on many occasions as a Hero in Japan.

"I have buried many friends, and it has never become easier. All we can do, is steel our resolve, and make sure to honor the fallen by saving as many as we can. That is all I can say," Aizawa said, then took his seat again. Nemuri stood up and walked, each step feeling heavy. She saw the picture of Joseph and Mysa, it was the two of them at their wedding, a traditional Western wedding. For a second, Nemuri thought of what might have been, had life been kinder to her, before she turned to the assembled mourners. "My colleague, Aizawa-san, was right about Joseph. We may have only known him for a year, but during that year, he left his mark on us. I remember him as the first boyfriend I ever had. He never looked down on my ideals, or my desire to be the Hero I wanted to be, only asked if I was willing to work for it. Being with him, was always a great comfort for me, one that I'll always miss," she managed to say, before going to Marie and Joseph Junior. She put her hands on their shoulders and looked at them both, "Your Father was a Hero, and your Mother loved you dearly. Don't ever forget that." "We won't," Marie said, and then said with determination, "I will be a Hero, like him. I won't let anything stop me!"

Nemuri didn't know what the proper etiquette was; so she patted them both on their shoulders before going back to her seat. The Pastor of the Church, who looked like a cross between and elephant and a man, stepped forward as the pallbearers prepared to set the coffins in the ground. "Goodbye, Joseph and Mysa. Your lives touched many, you both fought the good fight, you finished the race, and kept the faith. May we all learn from you and do likewise. In time, may we all join you in Paradise, with Our Father in Heaven. Amen," the Pastor prayed. "Amen," the mourners all said, as the coffins were lowered into their graves.


	2. Chapter 2: Revelation and Determination

**Chapter 2: Revelation and Determination**

 **Midnight**

After the funeral there was a small catering service provided for the gathered mourners inside the Church. For two hours Nemuri and Aizawa listened as best they could as everyone swapped stories about the good times with the deceased. She tried her best to keep up and mostly succeeded and managed to tell a few stories of her own. It turned out that Joseph had been talking about her recently, but no one seemed to want to tell her why that was remarkable. Before he left though, the lizard man, Harry, spoke with her. "Miss Kayama, there's no easy way to put this, but, until recently, Joseph thought you were dead," Harry explained to her. "NANI!?" Nemuri was so shocked she reverted to her native tongue and Harry nodded. "Yes. He didn't tell me the circumstances, but I can guess a few things now," Harry told her before licking his eyes with his long lizard tongue. "What is this?" she asked the lizard man. "Can you not tell? Marie is your daughter," Harry nervously said.

Aizawa was close by listening, and nearly choked on his drink when he heard this. "What!? When!? HOW!?" he yelled in Japanese, drawing everyone's attention, while Nemuri remained quiet as Harry motioned for her to come with him. They stepped outside, Nemuri feeling numb as she felt like her stomach was twisting in knots. "Joseph never told me anything directly, but I've managed to put the pieces together. Simple math tells us that Marie wasn't Mysa's child, they didn't meet until Marie was six. A lot of people who didn't know her couldn't tell because you and Mysa share a number of features, however, looking at you, I can say with certainty that you are her biological mother," Harry said as he showed Nemuri a picture of Marie from before the attack that claimed her parents.

Nemuri looked, and she saw it now. Marie looked just like her, only with a darker skin tone, and instead of human ears on the sides of her head, Marie had wolf ears on the top of her head and had a wolf tail that Nemuri had missed earlier. Marie seemed to enjoy wearing her hair in cornrows judging by the picture, although for the funeral she wore it down, straightened down slightly past her shoulders. Nemuri swallowed, and remembered a terrible day sixteen years ago…

 ** _Sixteen Years Ago_**

 _The teenager woke up in the Hospital. When the labor started the pain had been unbearable for her, she begged the doctors to make it go away. She remembered being told to push, and hearing a baby crying, but it was all a blur. She had never had anything stronger than coffee before, her system not used to the drugs given, and she had passed out. Her parents were waiting in the room with her, both looking at her sadly. "My baby…where is it?" she finally asked. "Nemuri…" her Father said, looking at her with his dark brown eyes, "The baby…it was stillborn." Nemuri looked at him and whispered, "…no…"_

 _Her Mother said, "It's true, it was-" "NO!" Nemuri screamed, "NO NO NO! I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT!" Nemuri screamed as tears poured down her face, "IT'S NOT FAIR! I DIDN'T TAKE ANYTHING! I DIDN'T DRINK OR SMOKE! NO!" She finally collapsed, too tired to say more, only bury her face in her pillow and hold her now empty stomach. "I did everything right…"_

 ** _Present Day_**

"They lied to me…" Nemuri quietly said. "I'm afraid you were both lied to," Harry said, before licking his eyeballs again. "Does she know?" Nemuri asked. "She knows that her Mother was named Nemuri, it's also her middle name. I know that when he talked about Nemuri…you… he said you were confident, passionate, and dedicated to helping others," Harry explained. "I see," she said, hiding her face by looking down, thinking about Marie. _My daughter…_ Nemuri had to stop herself from rubbing her lower abdomen, remembering how despite her parent's protests she had sworn to raise her baby back then. They tried to force her to abort, saying that her Hero Career would end before it could even begin, but she refused to listen, saying she would find a way to be a Mother and Hero. Everything clicked in her head then.

"Thank you," Nemuri told Harry. The lizard man swallowed before saying, "Do you want me to get Marie? Let you tell her?" Nemuri shook her head, "No, not now. I'll wait until we're somewhere private." Harry started to go back inside before stopping, "You realize what this means, don't you?" Nemuri silently nodded, and Harry went back inside, leaving her alone.

 ** _Three Hours Later_**

Nemuri and Aizawa took a taxi to the Freeman's home, that was where Mrs. Bowers said the video will of the late Freeman's would be shown to all beneficiaries. Nemuri and Aizawa stepped out of the taxi to see that Harry the lizardman, the tall man with turquoise hair and scar, their children of course, and three other people, a short man with red hair who seemed to be of Chinese descent, a woman whose head resembled a Pomeranian dog, and a beautiful woman of Indian descent with all white eyes were also there. Nemuri saw the Freeman Home, it was a simple two-story house painted sky blue with a white roof that appeared well maintained, with a backyard that was about four hundred square meters and a garage large enough for two cars, but two cars were in the driveway.

When all the beneficiaries had arrived, Mrs. Bowers led them into the living room, it had a large couch and love seat, while the walls were covered in pictures of the Freeman's and their friends, picnics, graduations, baby photos, and many more adorned the walls. "Now," Mrs. Bowers began, and pulled a hologram projector out of her briefcase, "This Video Will was made only three days before Mr. and Mrs. Freeman's demise. They both appeared before me to make it, saying that they may make a new one at a later date. However, Mr. Freeman had no illusions about his job, and wanted this done just in case. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman left personal messages for some of you, when those begin, I ask that you all leave the room, and retire to the garage. That is all."

Mrs. Bowers placed the hologram projector down on the floor and pushed the button to activate it. A hologram appeared, showing Joseph and Mysa Freeman, Joseph dressed in a black suit with silver tie and Mysa wearing a navy-blue saree with a long-sleeved gold blouse. Joseph spoke, "If you are watching this, then we are both dead. I hope this video is never released, but I know how unpredictable life can be. Mysa and I have talked, and we've agreed to everything we're about to say." Mysa Freeman then spoke, "First, we want you all, Harry, Grace, Frank, Charlie, and Priya to know that we valued your friendship through our lives. You helped make things so much easier for us at times, we can only hope that what we have to give to you is a small way to thank you. Among you I know is someone I have yet to meet in person, Kayama Nemuri. Joseph has told me all about you, and I've learned more about you besides. I hope that if fate allows, we may know one another, and become friends."

"And finally, to our children, Marie and Joey…" Here, Joseph stopped as tears formed in his eyes. Mysa wiped some tears from her own eyes before continuing, "Marie, Joey, mere pyaare bachche, the world can be so cruel, if you are watching this then you know this. But always remember that no act of kindness and love is ever wasted though, and always believe in the good inside of people." Joseph finally collected himself to speak by then, "Life will be hard, and burdens are heavy." Joseph stopped to take Mysa's hand and they looked at each other with a small smile, "But the people you love will make it lighter."

More than a few eyes in the room had to be wiped, Nemuri wasn't afraid to wipe her tears, and swore she saw Aizawa do the same, though he saw her and quietly complained, "Damn dry eye." "Now then, we might as well move on to business," Joseph said after taking a deep breath. "Harry, you were always an ear that would listen, someone I could trust. I leave you with my collection of vintage albums, and $40,000 to you," Joseph said. Mrs. Bowers presented the albums, and Harry held them close, as if with them he could feel Joseph's presence. "Charlie, my man," Joseph said, and the Chinese man with red hair looked up, "I'd have died a lot sooner if it wasn't for what an amazing sparring partner you were. You can have my whole weight set and bag set too and $40,000, hope they help you in your training as much as you helped mine." Charlie went to the garage and Nemuri followed to see an old-fashioned gym inside with a heavy bag, speed bag, dumbbell and weights with a stool to train on. Charlie smiled a little and muttered, "That musclehead, of course he'd leave this to me."

"Frank," Joseph said, and Charlie and Nemuri returned her attention to the hologram to see the tall, scarred man with turquoise hair stand at attention. "You were the best sidekick any hero could ask for. We've saved each other dozens of times, and I want to thank you for that. I leave you with all the books I have about being a hero. They taught me a lot, I hope that you can use them wisely on your own journey, along with $40,000 to help you set up your own Agency," Joseph said. Mrs. Bowers handed Frank a box filled with books, and Frank took one out, a copy of the autobiography of Maid of Steel, one of the First Generation of Heroes. "I hope it does, Joseph," Frank quietly said before putting the book back in the box.

The recording of Mysa then spoke up, "Grace, you helped set us up together, and helped give me the family I love more than anything." The Pomeranian-headed woman sniffed at this as her ears sunk. "I leave you $65,000, and my favorite turquoise necklace, my ruby bracelet and earrings, and finally my entire comb set." Everyone laughed at that last item, even Grace the Pomeranian-headed woman. Mrs. Bowers presented a case with the jewelry and combs to Grace. "To Priya," Mysa said, getting the attention of the beautiful Indian woman, "I leave $40,000 and all of my dresses. I wish I could give them to you, the daughter of my heart, Marie, but you're simply too tall for them." Nemuri noticed how much larger Joseph was sitting next to Mysa, the hologram was roughly life-sized, if Nemuri had to guess, going on her knowledge that Joseph was 6'4", 1.93 meters, Mysa had to have been been about 5'3", 1.6 meters, while Marie stood about Nemuri's own 1.75 meters height, 5'9". Mrs. Bowers took time to present four large suitcases with the dresses mentioned. "Now, if everyone else doesn't mind, please leave the room until only Nemuri, Marie, and Joey are left," Joseph then announced.

All of the beneficiaries collected their things while the recording was paused, many of them giving the children reassuring pats on their shoulders before leaving the room and going upstairs, Aizawa going with them. Nemuri swallowed a lump in her throat then as Mrs. Bowers continued the recording. "Marie," Joseph said, and the blind girl turned her head to the recording, "You are my first child, and I've always loved you. I tried my best to be a good father and example to you and Joey. Mysa will always be your Mom, from the moment I first saw you together I knew that she was up to the challenge of helping me raise you as you deserved. However, we know that she is not your birth mother, Kayama Nemuri is." Joey and Marie looked at Nemuri and she looked back at them.

"How?" Marie asked, "I thought you were dead?" Nemuri was so surprised that she had to sit down at those words. Joseph continued, "I know you think that your birth mother died bringing you into this world, so did I. But it was a lie. I discovered this a week before making this Video Will. I found your Grandpa's diaries while going through the attic and read them out of curiosity. I found out what had happened. Let me explain this story.

"You know that when I was a foreign exchange student my first year at Rogers and Stark High School I was sent to Japan's best Hero School, U.A. High. There, I met Nemuri and we fell in love. By the time I came home, I didn't realize that she was pregnant with you, not until she was eight months along. I tried to get to her, to you, but by the time I had, it was her due date. When we arrived at the Hospital, your Grandparents, my Parents and hers, argued for hours, while I had to wait in the waiting room. I never saw Nemuri, her parents handed you over to me, and told me that she had died, even gave me her death certificate. They told me to take my bastard child and leave, in no uncertain terms, so I did, they wouldn't even let me attend the funeral. At the time I thought that it was because they hated me, but after reading Dad's diary, I know the truth.

"Being a Teen Mom would have ruined Nemuri's chance at becoming a Pro-Hero in Japan, and so her parents bullied mine into stopping it from coming out. Nemuri's pregnancy had never shown until the last month, by then she was out of school and stayed at home, so only her parents, my parents, and us knew about it. Our parents bribed a doctor to make two fake death certificates, one for me saying she had died in childbirth, and one for Nemuri, saying that it was you, Marie, who had been stillborn. We never thought our parents would lie to us, and we both bought it," Joseph said, his anger apparent from the way his golden eyes started to glow.

"Nemuri," he then said, "If you're watching this, please, Mysa and I are trusting you with the most important things in our lives, our children. We've gathered all the relevant paperwork for you to adopt Joey, and no one can deny your right to your own daughter. I did some research into what you've done with your life, I know that you're now the 18+ Hero Midnight, and a teacher at U.A. Take them to Japan with you, and please take Marie to U.A., I know that you'll help guide her to be the Hero she wants to be."

Mysa then addressed Marie and Joseph Junior, Joey, "Marie, Joey, I know how hard this will be for you. You will be going to a whole other country and will have to learn to adapt. Your Father trusts Kayama Nemuri and I trust him, she will no let you or us down." Mysa then addressed Nemuri, "Kayama Nemuri, please, love my children like they were your own, and guide them through life, since I cannot." "Everyone can come back now," Joseph said, and Mrs. Bowers paused the recording to let everyone else back in the room. Once everyone was present, the recording continued, "Now, as the last item, everything we own that we didn't specify going to others, goes to our children, Marie Nemuri Freeman and Joseph Jerome Freeman Junior, all our savings are to be transferred to two equally divided trust funds, that our children may access when they turn eighteen, or their legal guardian may use in order to care for them. That's all we have to give." Mysa then said, "Thank you to everyone for blessing our lives so much. Take care of yourselves." The recording ended then, and Charlie asked, "But who is their guardian now?"

"I am," Nemuri said, and everyone else looked at her. "It was Joseph-kun and Mysa-san's last wish that I take care of their children, and bring them with me back to Japan, and so I shall." The other adults tried to argue, but Nemuri gave them all one of her most potent glares, focusing all her rage, grief, and even her sadism into the glare as she looked at them. Everyone was silenced at once by this glare. Nemuri turned her attention to Marie and Joseph Junior, Joey. She kneeled down and pulled them both into a hug. "I promise you, I will do everything I can for you both, if you'll let me. I can't promise I'll be the best mother in the world, but I will be the best mother I can be," she told them. For a minute the kids didn't move, before they hugged her back.

 **Author's Note: I realized I messed up before in the naming of the beneficiaries, so I corrected my mistake and a few others. Blame lack of sleep and over excitement from moving recently.**


	3. Chapter 3: Training and Possible Healing

**Chapter 3: Training and Possible Healing**

 **Marie**

It was a strange sensation, waking up to total darkness, one that Marie had yet to get used to. The best way she could tell she was awake was by reaching up and touching her face, the sensation told her that her mind and body were conscious. She felt the scars around her eyes, and the eyelids that were permanently sealed shut by fire, and quickly reached to her side table. She found the bandages she was given and wrapped them around her head as best she could, to hide her deformity. There was no other word for it, she was blinded now, her face scarred, and her chances of becoming a Pro-Hero were lower than before. She got out of bed and felt next to it to find the cane the Hospital had given her and started tapping around her room.

Her closet was on the other side of the room from her bed, two feet to the left from her bedroom door. She got in and felt her clothes for her exercise shorts and shirt, it was Saturday now she was sure, it had been too long since she had trained. She had to train, if she gave up now, then her life was meaningless. She had come too far, she had her Provisional License, she had trained for ten years in her Quirk's abilities and martial arts, studied her butt off to pass every test given. Marie Nemuri Freeman would not give up now. She would become a Pro-Hero; or die trying. She found her clothes and took off her pajamas to change into her exercise shorts and shirt, then put on her martial arts shoes as well, they were comfortable but light and flexible, so she could train however she wanted in them.

After getting dressed, Marie left her room, tapping away with the cane. From her bedroom one foot from the door to her right was the upstairs hall bathroom, three feet from that door was Joey's room. Heading left from Joey's ten feet away from the door was her parents…her Father and Step-Mother's Master Bedroom, and three feet from that was the stairs. Marie used her memory mostly to find them, and when she did she held on to the guard rails as she made her way downstairs, hearing voices from the garage/Training Room. Marie concentrated as she walked, hearing Kayama Nemuri…her Mother speaking with her colleague, Aizawa Shota. "You're holding back," she heard her Mother say. Aizawa snorted, "And yet I've still beaten you five times out of five. I'd say you need to work on your technique more." Marie made her way to her garage door, past the Living Room take a left to the Kitchen, follow the wall for four feet until she reached the short hall. She passed the downstairs bathroom and Laundry Room doors, down the seven-foot hall and reached the door.

Marie opened it and smelled the sweat of a man and woman and heard her Mother's heavy breathing, while Aizawa was breathing less heavily. "Marie, good morning," her Mother greeted, while Aizawa said, "Shouldn't you still be asleep? It's only six o'clock." "This is when I trained with Dad before School," Marie told him, "And when I needed it." "Marie, is this really the time to train? You should recover more," her Mother said. "No, I've rested enough," Marie firmly said, louder than she meant to, "I WILL become a Pro-Hero, that means I have to train, I have to stay in shape, and I have to keep moving forward!" "Stubborn girl," Aizawa said in Japanese. Marie knew it from lessons her Father had given her, he wanted to take her to Japan one day so she could learn about her heritage, she wasn't completely fluent, but she could speak, read and write in it.

Marie pointed at the direction Aizawa's voice came from and said in his native language, "You're damn right I am! No one ever became a Pro-Hero unless they were as determined and stubborn as Hell!" Aizawa stopped, while her Mother laughed loudly, "That's the attitude you'll need! Never give up, let the fires of youth and determination guide you!" "You're her daughter alright," Aizawa sighed. Marie put her cane on the wall and stepped onto the foam mats on the floor then started to stretch. As she stretched, her Mother asked in Japanese, "How do you train? I remember Joseph-kun would exercise for three hours, doing ten sets of fifteen pushups, sixty punches, forty kicks, fifteen sit-ups, leg lifts, and sitting twists each, followed with weight training in the gym for thirty minutes, another thirty minutes of martial arts training either with himself or partners, and ended with an hour-long jog." "I only do eight sets of the exercises," Marie explained as she continued stretching, "and I can only bench three-hundred pounds, while Dad benched five-hundred, as for the jogging, and martial arts, I did it with him as long as he did."

"I see, that explains all those muscles you're showing off," her Mother smiled. "We'll stay here, tell us when you need help." "Alright," Marie said, finishing her stretches after fifteen minutes and getting to work doing her exercises. It felt good, feeling her muscles being worked out after a week of resting. The strain was brutal, but she enjoyed it all the same, counting out loud at everything until she was done, while her Mother and Aizawa did their own exercises. From the noises they made, he seemed to do a cardio and stamina-based regimen, while her Mother was more full-body workout with a lot of stretching. Marie hated that she couldn't lift weights, but Charlie had taken them with him yesterday, with help from Frank. Her exercises more or less over, Marie stood up and said, "Aizawa-san, spar with me." "Marie, are you sure? Aizawa is a highly skilled martial artist, one of the best in the world in terms of raw skill," her Mother said, "Joseph-kun and he started as equals at U.A., but by the time he left, Aizawa was clearly his superior."

"I know, and he sounds like a hardass too," Marie said, then turned her head to the direction she smelled Aizawa's sweat coming from. "I don't want you to hold back on me just because I'm blind. Villains won't give me that luxury, so I have to get better, so I'm not taken down easily." Aizawa sighed, then said in an intimidating tone of voice, "Is that what you really want, girl? For me to hit you with all my strength, and break your bones with every clinch and hold I get you in?" "AIZAWA! Don't you dare!" her Mother yelled, and Marie felt herself breaking into a sweat, she knew that he would do that if he wanted to. "Um…don't send me to the Hospital, please, but, don't hold back your skill…Aizawa-san…" she said. "That's what I thought," Aizawa said as he stepped up and stopped two feet away from her. She heard the shift of his feet and light ' _whoosh'_ from his clothes as he assumed his stance. "I'll fight you hand-to-hand. Your Mother wants me to train you, to get you ready for U.A. If you can show me that your disability won't hold you back, then I'll do it. But, if I decide you're too weak for the Hero Course, I won't help, and I'll do everything in my power to stop you from joining U.A.," Aizawa said.

Her Mother took a deep breath, "He's serious, Marie. He once expelled an entire class in their first year. The fact that everyone in his current class passed is proof of their quality. I can't help you here, while there is another homeroom you can join, Aizawa is one of the best we have when it comes to martial arts training. Do you accept his conditions?" Marie swallowed nervously, she could feel Aizawa's determination in her bones, he would give her Hell in this fight. But, if she passed his test, he would help her. "I'm sure," she said, and assumed her own fighting stance. "Very well, on my signal then," her Mother said. Time seemed to slow down as Marie took in a deep breath, shuffling her tail and letting it stand up, so it wouldn't tangle with her legs, she wouldn't attack, she had to focus on countering, _remember what Dad said, rely on all your senses. All my senses, all of them!_ "BEGIN!"

Aizawa shot forward so quickly that his and Marie's arms clashed hard together as she blocked his first punch, then let muscle memory guide her to land a hard palm strike to his ribs. Aizawa grunted but then tried to sweep Marie's feet out from under her, but she stepped back before moving in with a sliding side kick. Aizawa grabbed her leg and twisted her ankle, but Marie did the unexpected and went with the twist to kick his face, but he went with the kick to negate the damage. "You're good, I'll give you that," Aizawa told her. He then went back on the offensive, this time with a hook kick that Marie ducked under, only for him to then raise his leg and change it into an axe kick that slammed in the back of her head. Marie saw stars but kicked up just in time to make Aizawa back away and give her room to jump back up and go after him.

Marie threw punches at him as fast as she could, but Aizawa dodged them all, before Marie changed tactics and landed a side kick to his stomach. Aizawa was slightly stunned, but when Marie tried to follow up he blocked her punch at the wrist and grabbed it before grabbing her shirt and throwing her to the ground and stomping on her stomach, then finished by pulling her arm into an armbar. Marie couldn't get out of it, and Aizawa proved the difference in their skill level by twisting her arm, ensuring that if she tried to muscle her way out then she would tear her own muscles to shreds. "I GIVE! UNCLE!" Marie screamed and slapped the mat hard with her free hand to get the message across.

He let her go and Marie rubbed her arm as her Mother went to her, "Are you alright?!" Her Mother took her arm and checked it, sighing when she saw no real damage had been done. Aizawa walked past them both, "You aren't completely hopeless. You need to learn how to adapt to using your other senses more, but you're already on your way to mastering that trick. If you get accepted into U.A., I'll teach you as best I can." With that he left the room, leaving Marie and her Mother alone. "Do you still want to spar? I'm not as good as Aizawa, but I am still a competent fighter," she said. Marie shook her head, "Not today. Can we…talk…Mom?" She heard her Mother swallow a little, "Alright, after you get ready for breakfast, we'll talk. What would you like?" "Joey, and me, are dying for some of Dad's chocolate chip pancakes. Joey likes his pancakes shaped like the state of South Carolina, Dad used a cookie cutter to make them that way. I like mine regular shaped." "Alright, where is everything?" her Mother asked as she and Marie headed into the Kitchen together. After Marie told her where the pots, pans, cookie cutters, and ingredients were, Marie headed back upstairs to her room to get her clothes as she heard Aizawa start the shower. Joey was awake and came out of his room.

"Marie…" he said, and she stopped, "Yeah?" Joey sounded nervous as he said, "What's going to happen, when we leave?" Marie took a deep breath and thought about how things would really change for the first time. They were leaving their home, their schools, their friends their country even, in time. She knew it would be a few days to get the paperwork done for Kayama Nemuri to officially adopt them both, plus their school records as well, and then, they would have to make arrangements once they were actually in Japan, teaching Joey Japanese, and she guessed she would have to learn Braille along with other adjustments. "A lot of things, Joey. It'll be hard, I admit," she told him, honesty was the best thing for him right now, "You'll need to learn Japanese, I'll have to learn Braille, and train to use my ears and nose better so I can be a Pro-Hero eventually. We'll both need to work hard." She reached out for him, and found his head, rubbing his short hair as she knelt down to his level.

"I promise, I'll be there for you, and I'll help you as much as I can," she said. Joey hugged her tight, and she hugged her little brother back. "You should go downstairs," she told him after he was done hugging her, "Ms. Kayama is trying to make pancakes, you should make sure she gets them right." "Alright," Joey said, sounding a little happier, and she headed into her room. _This is going to suck. I could feel for my clothes' material, but almost ALL of my shirts are the same, same with my shorts and pants. Plus, color coordination…_ Marie decided to stand outside the shower and wait for Aizawa to finish. After five minutes the Japanese Pro-Hero finished his shower and another five minutes later the door opened. "I need your help," Marie told him. "With what?" he asked her. "I can't see my clothes. I need someone who can see to help me pick my outfit for today," she explained. Aizawa sighed, "Very well." Marie led him to her room and showed him her dresser and closet, jokingly saying, "Don't go peeking in my underwear while you're in there."

"Whatever," Aizawa said as she heard him shuffle through her dresser and closet. After two minutes he handed a bundle of clothes. Marie felt them, a pair of her jeans and a black shirt she wore of her favorite Heavy Metal band, Fool Moon 2Nite with her favorite lyric emblazoned on it, 'And the monster is me!'. "Thanks, Aizawa-san," she said, and got out her own underwear and socks. She headed to the shower, thankfully neither her Mother nor Aizawa had messed up anything, everything was where it was supposed to be, so she could shower by herself. After cleaning up and brushing her teeth she dried off and got dressed then put a towel on her head to dry her hair off. After brushing her teeth, Marie headed back downstairs, Aizawa close behind her.

"There you are," her Mother said, "breakfast is ready, and I think I did a pretty good job." "I had to show her which cookie cutter to use though," Joey piped up. "Hey, how about I ask you to identify one of the Japanese Prefectures by it's shape?" her Mother told him. "No thanks," Joey said as he and Nemuri set breakfast on the table. The four of them all sat down to eat, it was quiet, Marie almost felt like they were a whole family. "Mr. Aizawa," Joey finally spoke, "Are you and Ms. Kayama dating?" "No," both adults answered, "He's/She's not my type." Marie laughed hard at their synchronicity for a minute before taking a sip of milk her brother set beside her. "Well, it's true. Aizawa's a stick in the mud," her Mother said, and Aizawa only grunted in response, "We're colleagues, nothing more." "What about you, Marie? Are you seeing anyone?" her Mother then said.

"Not for the last three months," Marie answered, "My last boyfriend and I figured we were better as friends." "They were so gross," Joey told the adults, "Kissing all the time and everywhere!" "That snake tongue of his was hot, what can I say," Marie joked, making Joey say, "GROSS!" Marie heard her Mother lick her lips, "Very interesting. Why don't we continue this talk upstairs, I'll fix your hair up and everything, just us girls?" "Alright," Marie agreed. As they walked off she heard Aizawa say to Joey, "We got stuck with the dishes." They headed upstairs to Marie's room. Marie sat on her bed and her Mother grabbed a brush from the bathroom. "So, how many boyfriends have you had?" she asked her. "Sammy was number five…and my first," Marie answered her. "Did you-" "Yes, we used protection, Mom and Dad insisted on teaching me all about 'The Birds and the Bees'," Marie said, then realized what she had said, "I mean Dad and Mysa told me."

Kayama Nemuri stopped brushing her hair then walked in front of her. She put her hands on Marie's shoulders before telling her, "Don't be ashamed to call her your 'Mom'. I may be your Mother, but she was the one that raised you, taught you how to be a woman, right?" Marie swallowed back tears as she remembered Mysa, how she taught her how to take care of her hair, how they cooked together, how Mysa taught her about boys, and puberty, and life… Marie couldn't help herself as she started crying, unable to forget what had happened. Her Mother held her close and let her cry on her shoulder, gently rubbing her back as she said, "I won't leave you again. I promise."

 **Midnight**

It took Marie about an hour to get all her crying out, Nemuri held her the entire time, crying with her about the lost time that they couldn't have back. She could have died at any time since she started her Hero career and her daughter would have been none the wiser. When Marie finally let it all out, Nemuri went back to brushing her hair, noting how similar it was to her own, only shorter. _I wonder what Recovery Girl would think…_ "I'm an idiot!" Nemuri exclaimed. "Huh?" Marie asked. "Your eyes, we can fix them! At U.A., the nurse, Recovery Girl, she might be able to heal your eyes," Nemuri told her, before pulling out her phone and setting it to Video Chat to call Recovery Girl. The older heroine answered, sounding grumpy, "Do you realize the time, Kayama-san?" "I'm sorry, Recovery Girl, but, I need you to look at someone," she said, and then took a few minutes to explain her relationship with Marie and Joseph, as well as Marie's injuries.

Recovery Girl sighed, "Kayama-san, I don't know if I can heal her. Can I see her eyes first?" Nemuri turned to Marie, who was already taking off her bandages. Nemuri gasped when she saw the burns that had scarred her daughter's eyes shut. She managed to point her phone at Marie to give Recovery Girl a look at them. "Closer," Recovery Girl said, and Nemuri did so. "Hmmm…" the Youthful Heroine examined Marie's face closely before saying, "It's possible. It would have been best if I saw her within twenty-four hours of her injury. My Quirk is limited, and the more time between the original injury and my seeing the patient affects it as well." "Then, I need to bring her to you," Nemuri said. "As soon as possible would be best," Recovery Girl told her. "Thank you so much, we'll be there in forty-eight hours!" Nemuri excitedly said. "Can she really do it?" Marie asked, sounding both afraid and hopeful.

"I've seen her heal people from the brink of Death! I've watched shattered bones, torn muscles, and bleeding organs heal in seconds thanks to her! If anyone can heal you, it's Recovery Girl," Nemuri assured her. "I'll be waiting at my home for her. I'll text you my address. For now, though, I need to get to sleep," the old heroine said. "Thank you, Recovery Girl. I'll find some way to repay you for this, I promise," Nemuri said, before hanging up. "Can she really do it?" Marie asked again. "Believe in me, and her," Nemuri told her daughter, "Even if she can't, I will find a way. For now, I guess we need to get ready to leave. You should tell Joey. Tomorrow, you both can say goodbye for your friends." Marie nodded, and headed back downstairs. Nemuri got on the phone to start making arrangements to get the four of them, herself, Aizawa, Marie, and Joey, one-way tickets back to Japan.

 **Author's Note: I know this is going slow, but I want to establish my OC's first. Around chapter 6 or 7 we'll be in U.A. I don't want to mess too much with Canon, so I'll tell you now that this will take place in the Second Year. Class 1-A will be Class 2-A.**


	4. Chapter 4: Farewell to Friends

**Chapter 4: Farewell to Friends**

 **Midnight**

Nemuri sighed deeply as the sun rose, and she was on her twelfth cup of coffee. Getting all of the paperwork ready to move Marie and Joey to Japan in forty-eight hours had been long, hard, stressful, and exhausting, but she had managed it all! All their school records, medical records, all of them. She looked at the folders filled with Marie's records and looked through them. Marie always performed among the top three students of her class in all physical education and Practical Hero Tests. Her written exams were not her strongest suit, but Marie almost never scored less than an 80. She took out the last written assignment Marie wrote, a five-thousand-word essay on why she wanted to become a Pro-Hero. Nemuri read it as best she could, reading English and speaking it were two very different things, but she managed.

Nemuri had expected it to be about Joseph, and how he inspired and trained Marie. She was shocked to see that it was about herself. Marie had written how her parents had met in Japan, practiced and took classes together, fell in love, how Nemuri and Joseph both wanted to be Pro-Heroes. The essay ended with Marie vowing to be the greatest female Pro-Hero in the world, like her Mother would have been.

Nemuri put the paper back in the folder and sighed. _She thinks I'm some kind of saint. How can I tell her the truth without her totally hating the reality?_ The 18 Plus Hero looked back on her life, many people questioned if she deserved to be a Hero, what kind of role model such a promiscuous and shameless woman as she could be, they said aloud, to her face. She remembered all the people she had saved, by herself and as part of numerous teams, how quickly she had resolved numerous crises with her Quirk. She took a deep breath and made her choice, _I'll tell her the truth. I am a Hero, no matter what else I am. I've saved hundreds of lives if not more, I've never surrendered or given up. I'm not perfect, but I'm still a damn good Hero._

Nemuri heard the 'tap tap tap' of Marie's cane and said, "Good morning." Marie was dressed to workout but said, "Good morning, Mother. Are you not working out today?" "I was busy yesterday and last night, I need to rest. I think I'll take a nap after breakfast," Nemuri told her. "Alright," Marie said. "Before I forget," Nemuri told her, "I managed to get in touch with your friends, Joey helped me, as well as his friends. I'm planning on having a 'Going Away Party' here, around five." Marie nodded at her, "Thank you, Mother. Can you help me find my Hero Outfit then? I want us to wear them, I want them to remember the Hero I'll be." "Of course. Is there anything I can make for breakfast? Pancakes again, maybe?" "Well, what do you usually have?" Marie asked. Nemuri laughed, "Usually I just have some toast with jam and some coffee. I've been fairly successful, but I don't have a mansion or anything. You and Joey will have to take some of my Boys' rooms." Marie's ears twitched, "Boy's?" "That's what I call my sidekicks, 'Midnight Boys. When we stay out really late I let them stay with me. I'm sure after I explain they won't mind," Nemuri explained.

"Alright," Marie said, and went into the garage to train. As she did that, Nemuri got her breakfast and saw that they had cereal and such for the kids. _Marie's senses are serving her well. Joseph-kun must have taught her how to use them to her advantage._ Nemuri remembered how Joseph would act faster than one would expect of such a large man, especially after activating his Quirk and transforming into his Wolfman Form. He would always claim it wasn't speed or reflexes, he paid attention to his wolf-like senses to know what was coming ahead of time. Aizawa had to become faster in order to keep up, and finally defeat him.

Speaking of which, Nemuri soon heard the sound of Marie and Aizawa sparring. She went into the garage and saw Marie manage to take Aizawa down, only for the Underground Hero to flip their position and force his forearm into her neck. Marie tapped out before he choked her out. "You're over-confident. Your blindness makes your opponent confident, and they underestimate you. However, you shouldn't believe that is your strength. An experienced or ruthless opponent won't hesitate to use their own advantages against you," Aizawa told her. "Thank you, Aizawa-sensei," Marie said in Japanese as they got up and started again. This time, Marie was more cautious and Aizawa went on the offensive. Marie blocked several punches before throwing a kick that was deflected. Marie ducked under a kick, and unlike last time moved back before Aizawa could axe kick her.

Marie threw her own kick that Aizawa grabbed, then lifted her other leg to kick his hand and make him let go. She fell on the ground but then tried to sweep his feet out from under him, but Aizawa jumped over the sweep. To Nemuri and Aizawa's surprise she then moved into a hand-stand and slapped his face with her tail, before kicking his chest. Aizawa stumbled back and Marie got back on her feet before attempting a tackle. Aizawa was ready for her though and wrapped his arm around her neck as he fell, and his legs around her body to get her into a perfect Guillotine Choke. Marie struggled to get out of it but couldn't. After a minute she finally tapped out. "You're a lot stronger than your body suggests," Marie told him as they stood up again. "It doesn't matter how large your muscles are, it matters which muscles you train, and also your technique," Aizawa said.

"Dad used to tell me that. He said I wouldn't be as large as him, so I should focus on speed, stamina, and skill. Though I made sure I was strong too," Marie said. "That sounds like Joseph-kun. He knew a lot about how to train, he even gave Kayama advice on her diet," Aizawa said. Nemuri blushed, "Aizawa!" "Did it work?" Marie asked with a mischievous smile. "She lost nine kilograms, about twenty pounds thanks to him," he told her. "I'll kill you," Nemuri threatened. Marie laughed as Aizawa said, "She was so lazy, only focused on using her Quirk, never her body." Nemuri glared at him and left the garage to make breakfast as Marie and Aizawa continued to train. Joey came down just as they finished, and Marie told him, "You can have whatever you can make."

After everyone had breakfast and showered, Nemuri went into Marie's room to help her get dressed. Nemuri looked at the walls, covered in posters for a band called, 'Fool Moon 2Nite' as well as some old horror movies, the same movies on discs organized by horror sub-genre it seemed on a bookshelf. "Dad told me that you hate horror movies," Marie said, as though she could sense Nemuri's discomfort. "I can't say I'm fond of them," Nemuri said when she looked at the cover of a 'Hellraiser' movie. Marie laughed, and said, "Relax, I watch other stuff. My friends and I just like watching them together. Everyone at school calls us 'The Monster Maniacs, but we prefer 'The Frightening Five'." "Why?" Nemuri asked, afraid of the answer. "You'll see when they arrive," Marie said, as she led Nemuri to her closet.

 **Marie**

Marie was outside enjoying the smell of pizza in the air, Nemuri had decided to order pizza for the Going Away Party. She had managed to convince her Mother and Aizawa to wear their own Hero Costumes, her brother told her Aizawa looked like a regular guy with weird goggles and long bandages around his neck like a scarf, while her Mother looked like a woman from a dirty magazine. Marie didn't have room to judge, her own outfit was skin tight and made of flexible material for her own Quirk. Her top was just slightly more than a grey sports bra with the symbol of a wolf profile on the chest, along with fingerless gloves and forearm guards on her hands and arms, and she wore nearly yoga pants tight shorts that stopped above her knee and shin guards with martial arts shoes. She needed so much exposed skin for when she truly activated her Quirk, having fur being covered up was pretty dang hot after all.

When Aizawa saw her outfit he told her Mother, "She's definitely your daughter. Her costume is only a few millimeters from breaking the law." "Don't exaggerate," her Mother told him, "it's minimalist, sure, but remember, Joseph-kun's was just a pair of shorts and a vest. At least her cleavage is covered."

As for right now, Marie was waiting for her friends to arrive, Joey had already had a party at the park with his friends, lots of cake and ice cream for all. Joey was nearly crying at the thought of never seeing his friends again, before her Mother told him that he could e-mail videos about Japan to them, and it seemed to help.

She heard four cars driving up and started walking over. "MARIE!" her own friends yelled, and Marie was nearly tackled as she was wrapped in a large group hug. She felt and smelled all of them, and realized they were also dressed in their Hero costumes.

Her best friend since Middle School, Francesca, with her large seven-foot-tall two-hundred-forty-pound body, strong enough to crack boulders to pebbles, wearing a suit that made her live up to the Quirk name 'Frankenstein', pulled her away and into a tight hug that Marie tried to return. "Marie, are you really leaving?" Francesca asked. "I am, Frankie. My Mother is taking me to U.A., she says that a teacher there has healing powers, and can fix my eyes," Marie told her. "Promise you'll e-mail me, vlog, text, anything," Francesca asked her. Marie felt her best friend's tears and said, "Hey! None of that mushy stuff! Of course, I'll keep in touch!" Marie had a hard time stopping her own tears as Francesca put her down.

Marcus clapped a thin hand on her back, his Quirk, Sleepy Hollow, gave him a fire-breathing Jack o' Lantern head, Marie felt the leather gloves of his outfit that made him look like the legendary Headless Horseman, said, "Come on Marie! Don't cry too! You're too tough for that!" "Marcus, this isn't about who's tough. Because, all this stuff is," Marie admitted to him. Marcus was thin and short, only five feet and five inches and weighed one-hundred-pounds at most, but he was a scrapper that only an idiot would underestimate. "I know, Marie," Marcus said. "If there's anything you need, just ask." "Thanks, Marcus," Marie said, and gave him a hug.

"Hey now! We just got here! This isn't goodbye yet!" the ethereal voice of Lilith said. Lilith's Quirk was 'Will o' Wisp', she could turn into a ball of light like the famous spirit and dressed up like a wraith with makeup to look like a skeleton wearing a long shroud to help the effect. Marie heard her transform into her human form and put a plate of pizza in Marie's hand. "Come on! Eat up! It's a party!" Lilith said. "It's a regular Monster Mash, that's for sure," Sammy slithered over with pizza in three of his four hands. His Quirk, Lamia, gave him the extra limbs and instead of legs he had a powerful snake's tail. "Lame pun, Sammy," Francesca said, but took the offered pizza anyway.

"So, that's the Pro-Hero Midnight, huh?" Lilith finally asked after five minutes of the five teens basically talking about nothing. Marcus whistled, "DAYUM! If THIS is her regular outfit, I'm almost afraid of what her original was like!" "Hey! Quit drooling over my Mother!" Marie said, managing to elbow his ribs. "Ow! Sorry, but, Marie, I can see where you got like…80% of your bod!" Marcus said, "I mean, that outfit is practically a second skin on her!" "He's right about that," Sammy said. "I know, she's pretty 'liberated' and all that…wait, what original outfit?" Marie asked. "When we heard about your parents, news traveled that you and Joey were being adopted," Francesca explained. "We looked her up," Lilith said, "The Eighteen Plus Hero Midnight is infamous in Japan for her original outfit, they actually wrote laws to make sure nothing so skimpy was worn by heroes in Japan again." "Wow… Dad said that she liked attention… But I never imagined that!" Marie said, wondering what else she didn't know about her biological Mother.

She heard heels on the ground as Kayama Nemuri, aka Midnight, walked over, "So, how are you kids enjoying the party? I admit, I see you all chose a 'Halloween' theme for your costumes." "Halloween nothing!" Marcus declared, and drew the sword he had as part of his costume and twirled it around, "We are the Frightening Five! Striking terror into the hearts of evil everywhere!" Marie and all her friends took on their best poses, and Marie activated her Quirk, Lycanthrope, feeling as her muscles became stronger, tighter, as black fur grew over her body while her teeth grew sharp as knives and her nails grew a whole inch into claws sharp enough to scratch solid rock. Marie smiled as she and her friends declared, "The Frightening Five battles evil, wherever it thrives!"

Midnight laughed out loud, "Oh the thrill of youth! The passion! The drive! The sheer power! YES! All of you will be great heroes if you keep this up!" "Gee, thanks," Francesca said, "Most people think it's corny…" "Oh, never mind them," Midnight said as she walked closer, "As long as you keep that youthful passion and spirit alive, nothing can stop you!" Midnight held Marie's shoulder as she said, "Marie, if you graduate from U.A., what are you going to do?" "Like you have to ask," Marie said, "I'll come home, and the Frightening Five will become the most famous Hero Team ever!" "That's what I like to hear!" Midnight said, "Oh, you all are like some of my favorite students, filled with that fire inside that makes all the difference! I feel tingly all over!"

For the rest of the party, Marie and her friends drank punch, ate pizza, talked, laughed, shared memories, and showed off their Quirks for Midnight. Marie hadn't felt so alive, so excited, and so hopeful in a long time. But alas, time came for all of them to leave. Francesca gave her a hug and said, "Don't forget." "I could never forget you, Frankie," Marie promised. Lilith was next, "I hope you send videos, I wanna see what Japan is like for real!" "I'll do my best," Marie told her as they hugged goodbye. "Stay strong, Marie. We'll miss you, it won't be the same without you here," Marcus said as he and Marie bumped fists. "Don't get mushy on me now, Pumpkin Spice," Marie told him, then pulled him into a hug, "Keep everyone safe for me." "I promise I will," Marcus told her. And finally, it was Sammy's turn. He wrapped his four arms around Marie and said, "Marie…I…is it too late for us?" Marie reached with her hands and found his face, before kissing his cheek, "I'm sorry, Sammy. We just weren't meant to be."

The boy nodded and kissed her forehead, "No matter what, I'll always be there if you need me. I promise." "I know," Marie said, as they had one last hug, before he slithered back into his parent's car. Marie heard them all leave, but managed to keep herself from crying. Her Mother stood beside her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You will come back, this isn't the end for you five." "I hope you're right," Marie said, as she was guided back into her house.


	5. Chapter 5: Arriving in Japan

**Chapter 5: Arriving in Japan**

 **Midnight**

"Attention passengers, we are now arriving at Tokyo International Airport. Please remain seated until the plane has come to a full stop, while the flight attendants help you with your luggage," the pilot said over the plane's intercom. Aizawa was fast asleep, as were Joey and Marie, and Nemuri nudged Aizawa awake. "We're home," she told him. Aizawa nodded and woke up Marie, who woke up Joey. "Mommy?" Joey said, before he realized where he was. "Joey, I know things will be difficult," Nemuri said to him, "But I promise they will get better. Are you hungry?" Joey shook his head as did Marie. Aizawa and Nemuri lead them both out of the airplane and through the airport to baggage handling. Marie and Joey's heightened sense of smell helped them find their luggage quickly, and they were all in a taxi heading to Nemuri's home within an hour of landing.

"Oka-san," Marie asked, "How large is your home?" "Large enough for you two to each have your own rooms, though they will be slightly smaller than your old bedrooms. It's really more of a large apartment than anything else," Nemuri explained. "I see," Marie said, "What about training?" "I have a gym membership, my apartment is rather deluxe, most people can't afford it, but I made some smart investments. I could convert a room into a training room, but it would be rather tight, and I don't like exercising alone," Nemuri explained, "Don't worry, U.A. has a top of the line gym on campus for you to exercise in." "What are you saying?" Joey asked, and Nemuri was reminded the boy couldn't speak Japanese. "Just about living arrangements," Nemuri told him in English. That reminder made her realize something, she was going to have to do something to teach Joey Japanese, speaking, reading, and writing it all, if he was going to have a chance at school, unless she enrolled him in a school for non-Japanese children, but those were expensive to get into. Nemuri had money, but she wasn't rich.

"Joey, you don't understand any Japanese at all?" Nemuri asked, hoping Joseph had taught both children, and Joey was just less experienced. "Umm… I know kon'nichiwa, arigato, sempai, nee-san, nee-chan, tou-san, oka-san, san, kun, chan, sama, uhhh…that's it," Joey said. "That's not enough for you to live here. "You'll need a tutor. Count me out," Aizawa bluntly stated in English, "I have enough troublesome students. I can give you references to some people who can teach him, Kayama, but that's all I will do." Nemuri nodded, "You think Yamada would help?" "Probably," Aizawa said, "But don't think that he'll be much cheaper than a regular tutor." "Who's Yamada?" Marie asked. "Another colleague at U.A. He's the English teacher," Nemuri explained, "He's also known as Present Mic, he's a rather famous radio host and DJ, as well as a Pro-Hero." "Will he have time to tutor Joey?" Marie asked.

That stopped Nemuri and Aizawa. She looked at Aizawa, and Aizawa thought about it before saying to Joey, "I'm not sure. That depends on you, how good a student you are." Marie wrapped an arm around her little brother, "Joey is all brains. All A's since First Grade, he's learning Middle School level classes in third grade!" Joey smiled a little, and Nemuri couldn't help but smile as well, "You'll do well then." The taxi arrived at her apartment building five minutes later and Nemuri paid the driver. Aizawa helped them carry their luggage and they were lifted to the Third Floor. Nemuri led the way and opened the door, and Joey was shocked. "Wow…This is an apartment!?" he exclaimed. "Is it big?" Marie asked. "Like half our house!" Joey told her. "Joey," Marie said as she took out her phone, "Please start filming. You can do that for your friends too."

The boy took his sister's phone and set it to recording camera mode and focused on Marie. "Ready," Joey said. "Well, we arrived at my Mother's apartment," Marie said, "Joey tells me that it's huge, thought I can't tell, what do you think?" Joey moved the camera around to show off Nemuri's apartment, and she waved as Joey faced the phone towards her, while Aizawa said, "I'm going. Good luck." "Thank you for everything, Aizawa," Nemuri said as he left. She watched as Joey and Marie went through her apartment, Joey sometimes talking as well, so he could send the video to his own friends. Nemuri showed them where everything was, paying special attention in the kitchen so Joey didn't hurt himself, and led him to her Boy's rooms. All their rooms were the same, just simple places to sleep in, among other activities.

They went through the whole apartment, except for her room. "Hold it!" she said as they approached her bedroom. "What's wrong?" Joey asked. "That's MY room, and only people I give permission to can go in," Nemuri said. She looked at the phone, which was not open to her and said with a very stern voice, "No one under eighteen allowed." Joey shivered a little, "Got it." Nemuri sighed, "You have the run of the apartment." She then went to her TV and turned it on before setting it to show English subtitles. "I have a pretty good cable package, but there aren't many English channels," she explained to Marie before giving her the remote, "Do you know how to use this brand?" "I do," Marie told her, "I know the layout." "Alright…avoid the 800 channels, for Joey's sake," Nemuri whispered, "Jet lag is hitting me pretty hard. I need a nap, and then we'll see Recovery Girl." Joey nodded, "Have a nice nap."

Nemuri smiled at him and went to her room and fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

 **Marie**

Marie listened as Joey uploaded the video onto his laptop, and with her instructions sent it to her friends' and his. As soon as he was done, Marie took a deep breath and got a good sense of the smell inside of her Mother's apartment. It smelled mainly of perfumes and lotions, as well as some cleaning chemicals. She also smelled the musk of sex, mostly emanating from her Mother's bedroom, though there was a fainter 'sex musk' smell coming from the other rooms as well. She figured that her Mother would be 'liberated' in that area, during her going away party, Marcus, Francesca, Sammy, and Lilith told her stories they read online about 'The 18 Plus Hero: Midnight', she had a reputation of being the sexiest heroine in all of Japan, if not the world. She remembered how her Mother referred to her sidekicks as her 'Boys' and realized that they were also her 'boy toys'.

Marie's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door. Joey went to it and Marie went to the door as well. "Let me answer," Marie told him, then switched to Japanese, "Who is it?" A man's voice answered, "Is Mistress Midnight there?" "Who is asking?" Marie asked. "Please tell Mistress Midnight that Ichiro, Niichiro, Sanjuro, and Shiro are here," the man's voice said. "Joey," Marie said, and Joey nodded. He went to Midnight's room and knocked. "Midnight, some guys are here, say their names are Ichiro, Niichiro, Sanjuro, and Shiro!" Joey yelled. Marie heard her Mother wake up and groan, "Hmm…shit, they're early," she cursed in Japanese. In English she told Joey, "Let them in, and tell them to wait in the Living Room for me."

"Alright," Joey said, and Marie opened the door. "Mistress Midnight says to wait in the Living Room for her," she said, and smelled four men come in, they all smelled of fancy cologne and from the sounds of their shoes, these men were all very well dressed. They waited in the Living Room and Marie and Joey sat down with them. "Do you guys speak English?" Marie asked. "We all can," a different man's voice answered in English, "Although I am the most fluent speaker. You must be Mistress Marie and Joey-chan, it is nice to meet you. I am Sanjuro."

"I am Ichiro," the first man said. "I am Niichiro," a third man introduced himself in English. "And I am Shiro," the last one said. All of them spoke with variable amounts of Japanese accent, if Marie had to give an order from worst to best English speaker she'd say it was Niichiro, Shiro, Ichiro, and Sanjuro. "It's nice to meet you," Joey said, and Marie heard as he offered his hand and the four Midnight Boys shook hands. Marie offered her hand, and to her surprise, all four of them instead took her hand and kissed it. Midnight walked in then and laughed, "Already working on my daughter I see." "MISTRESS! We're so happy your trip to America went so well!" All four Midnight Boys yelled as they went to her. "We were introducing ourselves to your new children," Ichiro explained in Japanese. "They are very well behaved," Niichiro said. "Mistress Marie is quite beautiful, she has inherited much of your beauty," Sanjuro said. "We will do whatever we can to assist you," Shiro finished.

Midnight laughed again, "Thank you very much, my dear Boys. I'm afraid we must be going to see Recovery Girl now, to heal Marie's eyes. Sanjuro, Ichiro, would you mind giving up your rooms to Marie and Joey-chan?" "Of course, Mistress," Ichiro said. "Since I moved in with Keiko, I've had no need of my room, Mistress. Of course, they may have my room," Sanjuro answered. Midnight honestly sighed then, "Thank you. I will need your help now more than ever." Midnight then turned her attention to Joey and asked in English, "Would you like to come with us, Joey? I'm sure we can get lunch after we're done somewhere, although we won't be eating out often." "I wanna go with Marie," Joey responded, and took her hand. "Very well," Midnight said, and turned to her Boys, "Have their rooms ready by the time we get back." "Yes Mistress!" the four Midnight Boys yelled, and Midnight led Marie and Joey out to call a Cab.

The trip wasn't very long, about fifteen minutes give or take if Marie had to guess. During that time, Midnight told them about her Boys. All of them were at the end of their partnership with her, they were ready to branch out and be Pro-Heroes on their own. Marie wanted to ask more…personal questions, but not in front of Joey. They arrived at their destination, and Midnight helped Marie out of the car. Joey knocked on the door and Midnight yelled, "Recovery Girl? Are you home?" "Give me a minute," an old lady answered. "Say…how…OLD is Recovery Girl?" Joey asked. "She was the nurse at U.A. when Joseph-kun and I attended together, other than that I won't say because it's rude to ask about a lady's age," Midnight answered as the door opened. "Ah, you must be Joey-chan, and Marie-chan. Come in dears, come in," the old woman, Recovery Girl, said. Marie guessed that Recovery Girl was short, smaller than Joey even, but they followed her in.

"Wait, Joey, Marie, take off your shoes and leave them at the door. This is Recovery Girl's private residence after all," Midnight said. Marie and Joey did as she said, and Marie was handed some slippers to wear before they continued inside. Marie was led to a comfortable couch to sit on. "Now then, it's my understanding that you have some terrible burns on your eyes. Were any other parts of your body affected?" Recovery Girl asked. "No, doctors told me I was lucky, only my eyes and the area around them were affected," Marie answered honestly. "I see. May I look at your injuries?" Recovery Girl asked. "Yes," Marie agreed, and Recovery Girl removed the bandages from her head. Midnight took a sharp breath, as did Recovery Girl. "Can you open your eyes at all?" Recovery Girl asked. "No," Marie answered.

"Alright. Before we do this, I will be honest, your injury is an old one. My Quirk allows me to speed up the healing process, but it works best when it's a fresh injury. Also, eye injuries are one of the most delicate. If your pupils or nerves are injured, I might not be able to restore your sight," Recovery Girl said.

Marie swallowed then. "So…I might always be blind."

"I'm afraid so," Recovery Girl said, "Do you still wish to try?"

Marie thought about it. She came all this way to get her eyes healed. She couldn't think of any other solution, the doctors back home told her that her injury was too severe to operate on it, only a healing Quirk could help, but those were so rare that only a dozen people, throughout the ENTIRE WORLD had that power! This was probably her only chance and it probably wouldn't work?! Marie grit her teeth and said, "Do it." Recovery Girl sighed, "Very well."

Marie felt as soft lips, a Grandmother's lips, touched her above her nose and between her eyes, "CHU!"

She felt as the burns on her face softened, and new flesh was formed as the scars seemed to fall off her eyes, like the scales off of Saul's face in the Bible.

Marie felt as her eyelids opened.

She blinked.

And blinked.

And blinked.

And saw only darkness.

"I can't see," Marie said, as she said this, tears fell from her eyes. "I'm sorry, Marie-chan," Recovery Girl said, "Your pupils were…burnt off by the heat of the flames. I can heal almost any injury, but if the organ isn't there to be healed, there's nothing I can do." "I understand," Marie said, as her Mother went to her and pulled her into a hug. "Marie, we will find a way, I promise you, I will find a way to give you your sight back," she promised. "Surgery can help, but it will be expensive, extremely expensive. And even then, I'm afraid it might not work," Recovery Girl said. "Why?" Marie asked.

Recovery Girl explained, "Quirks have radically altered the Human Genome. Before they appeared; transplants between relatives and genetic matches were the best way to deal with these types of injuries. But after Quirks appeared, genetic matches were not enough. If the Quirk isn't a perfect match or nearly perfect, then the body will reject the transplant. My best guess, surgery only has a three percent chance of total success." "Thank you, for telling me the truth," Marie said, and reached out to try to shake Recovery Girl's hand. Recovery Girl took it with both hands, "Marie-chan, there is another who might help, but she isn't ready, yet. There is a little girl that Aizawa adopted, her Quirk is 'Reversal', she can 'Reverse' any organic thing to a previous state. She once healed a student at U.A., but she hasn't used her Quirk since."

"Why?" Marie asked. "Her Quirk is powerful, if she loses control, she could 'Reverse' you back to the state where you didn't even exist. For this reason, we've had to be very delicate with her. She may be able to help, but that will take years before she has mastered her Quirk enough that your life won't be in danger," Recovery Girl explained. "I see," Marie said, "What is the girl's name?" "Her name is Eri. She recently turned eight years old," Recovery Girl explained. "Thank you," Marie said. "Are you still determined to become a Hero?" Recovery Girl asked. "Yes, no matter what," Marie answered without hesitation. "Then I have some numbers for Midnight to call. You'll need teachers to help you adjust, and I suspect you'll need a Japanese teacher for Joey-chan," Recovery Girl said as she left, Marie heard the tap of her cane as she went to get papers.

Recovery Girl gave the papers to Midnight, and the family headed out of Recovery Girl's house. "Thank you for all your help, Sensei," Midnight said, and bowed. Marie and Joey bowed to the old Heroine as well. "You take care now, and don't take any stupid risks. That's all I ask," Recovery Girl said. With that, Midnight, Marie, and Joey headed back to the cab.

 **Author's Notes: I'm so sorry this took so long, a lot of things happened with Florence, but my family got lucky, though we evacuated just in case. That and getting a new full-time job slowed me down.**

 **Also, we know almost nothing about Midnight Boys, they only appear in one chapter of the spinoff 'My Hero Academia Illegals', they don't even got names yet, so I named them to make it easy for me to remember, look them up on the wiki to see what they look like. Ichiro has glasses, Niichiro looks like Kaminari, the guy with long hair is Sanjuro and Shiro is the short one with an idiot hair sticking up.**


	6. Chapter 6: Meeting a Future Classmate

**Chapter 6: Meeting a Future Classmate**

 **Deku**

Izuku had butterflies in his stomach as he, his Mom, and Uraraka walked through the Mall. U.A. started up next week, and they wanted to get some last-minute school shopping done. Izuku had invited Uraraka and Iida both to come, but Iida had politely declined, he was going to spend some time with his family at a hot spring, leaving Izuku and Uraraka alone…with his Mom of course. It had been too long since he and his Mom had gone somewhere, she had been beside herself when she heard he was bringing his girl-friend…friend who was a girl, just a friend who happened to be a girl, with them. Izuku was happy that they were getting along so well, Uraraka and his Mom had been talking about a number of things, they had similar interests in movies, books, and Uraraka and Izuku told his Mom about life in the dorms…minus the scarier episodes.

Uraraka was dressed in a cute pink dress with a ruffled skirt and her usual black leggings and sneakers, while his Mom wore her usual outfit, and Izuku was dressed in a new red Classic All-Might costume shirt and regular jeans with his usual red shoes. "Isn't that a little warm?" his Mom had asked when she saw the long-sleeved shirt. "It's fine, Mom, the weather's gotten a little cooler, and this is my first chance to wear it," Izuku told her as they walked. The truth was he didn't want his Mom to see his scars, he knew how much it always upset her to see them, and he didn't want her mood to be ruined, it was a beautiful day and she had met the sec…one of the most important people in his life.

"Alright," Uraraka said, "All that's left are notebooks, and some erasers. I think we should stop for lunch, is that alright, Midoriya-san?" "That's just fine, Uraraka-chan, I admit, I'm starting to feel a little hungry," Izuku's Mom said, just as her stomach grumbled. The older woman was blushing as they headed for the Mall's Food Court. Just as they got there, Izuku saw something he didn't expect.

Sitting at a table with a bag full of school supplies and two African-American children was Midnight!

"Uraraka-san, look, it's Midnight-sensei," Izuku said, and indicated in her direction. "Oh wow…who are those people she's with?" Uraraka asked. "Hmmm?" Izuku's Mom said. "One of our teachers from school, over there," Izuku told her, and she looked. Midnight-sensei was dressed in a suit more suited for an office and hadn't seen them; but was looking at one of the people with her, he looked like a little boy about eight-years-old. "Oh my…" Izuku's Mom said, "Nemuri-chan!?" She accidentally spoke louder than she meant to, drawing the Pro-hero's attention to her. "Nemuri-chan!?" Uraraka and Izuku both exclaimed in surprise as Midnight turned to her and looked like she recognized his Mom. Midnight got up and walked over, when she was close she said, "Inko-nee-san, is that you?" "In the flesh," Izuku's Mom said, shocking the teens into silence at her familiarity with the Eighteen Plus Hero. "O-O-Oka-san…how do you know Midnight-sensei?" Izuku managed to get out.

"Oh, Midoriya-kun, and Uraraka-chan too," Midnight finally noticed them, "Let me explain, your Mother was my babysitter when I was a little girl." Izuku's eyes nearly popped out of his skull and he started mumbling/ranting, "MyMotherknewMidnightasalittlegirlshewasherbabysittershehelpedraiseherhow didInotknowthisfactIneveraskedOka-sanaboutherlifegrowingupdidsheknowotherPro-heroes-" "Izuku," his Mom snapped him out of his episode, "Calm down dear, we can explain while we eat." "S-sorry, I was just…surprised," Izuku said. "Well, come on, I think we can move a table over to talk," Midnight said, not bothered at all as they went to her seat.

"Let me introduce you," Midnight said and introduced the children she was with. One was a sixteen-year old girl, she looked very beautiful, wore dark sunglasses and was dressed in a midriff baring white top with long sleeves and jeans that ended mid-calf with white sandals, she also had wolf ears and tail with her long hair in a ponytail. "This is Marie," Midnight introduced, and then pointed to the boy, he had darker skin than the girl and yellow eyes with white hair and was dressed in a yellow Present Mic shirt with jeans shorts and white sneakers, "And this is Joey. They're my adopted children." "Oh my, it's nice to meet you," Izuku's Mom, "I'm Midoriya Inko, I was your new mom's babysitter when she was a little girl. This is my son, Izuku, and his friend, Uraraka Ochako-chan, they're students of your new mom's."

"It's nice to meet you all," Marie said in flawless Japanese as she stood up and bowed. Joey did the same and said in more accented Japanese, "It's nice to meet you." "Nemuri-chan, you taught them very good manners," Izuku's Mom said, "And they speak good Japanese as well." "Oh no, they're still learning, and I can't claim all the credit for their Japanese," Midnight said, "I hired some good tutors for Joey-chan, and Marie was already a good speaker." "That's wonderful. Give me a minute to get our food, and we can talk more," Izuku's Mom said as she, Izuku, and Uraraka went to the restaurants in the Food Court to look for lunch.

It was decided they would split a pepperoni pizza from 'Pizza House', and the three of them sat down with Midnight, Marie, and Joey to eat. "Inko-nee-san, it certainly seems a lot has happened to you," Midnight said. "Well, that's life for you, marriage, child, life," Izuku's Mom said. "That sounds nice, actually," Midnight said, "I admit, I like being a Hero, but sometimes, it can be…overwhelming." "You've certainly managed just fine, Nemuri-chan," Izuku's Mom assured the Pro-Hero. "Trust me, my life has been quite the handful," Midnight said. The women stopped talking about their lives and went to less substantial matters while the teens all ate.

When they were done eating, Izuku's Mom said, "Izuku, why don't you show Marie-chan and Joey-chan around the Mall? I'm sure you kids don't want to be with grownups all day." "Are you sure, Oka-san?" Izuku asked her. "Of course, I'm sure you kids would like to have a little time to yourselves," his Mom assured him. "Alright, Midoriya-san," Uraraka answered for him, then turned to Marie and Joey, "Let's go!" "Alright," Marie said, and pulled a purse out of her seat, then pulled a cylinder out. She pressed a button on the cylinder, and it unfolded into a walking stick. "Alright, let's go," Marie said.

Izuku and Uraraka were a little surprised to see Marie needed the stick as she tapped the ground and started to walk to them. "A-All right," Izuku managed, "Where would you like to go, Marie-san?" "Are there any music stores here? I want to download some songs on my phone," Marie said, "Joey, where do you want to go?" "Do they have manga here?" Joey asked. "Actually," Uraraka said, "The manga store is right next to the music store." "Well, lead the way then," Marie said. Izuku and Uraraka started heading to the stores, hearing Marie's walking stick, and saw Joey clinging to his sister's hand. "So…" Uraraka said after the adults were out of sight, "How do you two like Japan?" "It's not too different from home," Marie said, "Although if I could see it would probably be a different story for me." "I miss home," Joey admitted, "Learning Japanese so I know where I'm going is hard." "You've certainly managed just fine, Joey-chan," Uraraka assured him, then switched to English, "Would us talking in English help you?"

"Please," Joey asked in English. "Okay," Uraraka said in English, although her native Japanese accent was obvious. "So…Marie," Izuku said, and his mind stopped. _WhatcanItalkaboutmyEnglishisalrightbutIhaveso manyquestionsaboutherblindnessandlivingwithMidnight-senseiwheredoIstart-_ "Deku," Uraraka said, "You're mumbling aloud again." "Huh? Oh…s-sorry," Izuku said in English. "It's okay," Marie said, "The fact is, us being here and my blindness are related. I don't mind talking about it." "Um, alright, can you tell us, if it's not too much trouble of course," Izuku asked. Marie stopped and so did everyone else as Marie told her story.

"Back in America, our Father was a Pro-Hero, Wolfheart. His Quirk was called 'Wolfman', he could turn into a wolfman, like the old horror movies. My Quirk is related, but not the same as his, it's called 'Lycanthrope', think of it as an evolution of his Quirk. I was training to be a Hero like him, Dad trained me, I was the fifteenth out of one hundred students in my school, Rogers and Stark High School. During his career, he made an enemy of a villain named Pyromaniac. Pyromaniac is a sadist, serial killer, and pyrophiliac, he gets a sexual thrill from fire, and the more turned on he is, the stronger he becomes. In the grand scheme of things, Pyromaniac is just hired muscle. However, Dad thwarted a number of his robberies, and in his last one, Dad took one of his eyes.

"Pyromaniac went even more insane, and vowed revenge on Dad. Two months ago, he got his revenge. He attacked us while we were out for lunch, and he had his own thugs to help him. We were completely blindsided, Mom…" Marie stopped, and tears fell from beneath her sunglasses. Joey squeezed her hands, and his body glowed a soothing shade of blue. Marie took a deep breath, and Izuku said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. You don't have to continue if you don't want to." Marie said, "I'm fine now, Joey inherited both Mom and Dad's Quirks, her Quirk was 'Soothing Touch', I'm calm now. As I was saying, Mom was killed instantly, she only had time to push Joey out of the way. Dad and I immediately transformed and went on the attack. The thugs were easy, none of them knew how to really fight, but Pyromaniac was another story, and we were outnumbered twelve to two.

"The cowards went after Joey, and Dad went to protect him. I thought I was ready; and tried to fight Pyromaniac alone. I underestimated him, I thought he was just a strong thug, but he knew how to fight even without his Quirk. When the thugs were taken care of, Dad went to help me, but just as he arrived, Pyromaniac got my eyes with his fire, blinding me. Dad tried to help me, distracting him long enough for Pyromaniac to kill him too. By then, other Heroes had arrived, and Pyromaniac ran. After we buried Mom and Dad, their Will was shown, and Kayama Nemuri, aka 'Midnight' was named as our legal guardian. He and Dad knew each other a long time ago, when Dad was a foreign exchange student in Japan. We moved here six weeks ago, Midnight took us to see Recovery Girl, hoping she could heal my eyes, but my pupils were destroyed by the fire, so I'm still blind," Marie said, and took off her sunglasses to show her eyes.

They were a beautiful shade of blue, but where most had pupils, she had white scars instead. Marie finished explaining, "Recovery Girl recommended some tutors to teach me how to adjust to blindness, and teach Joey Japanese, this is the first time we've been out for something not tutoring related since then." "I'm so sorry," Uraraka said. "Don't be. This is just a setback for me, I'm still alive, and I'm still going to be a Hero," Marie said. Uraraka and Izuku could only stare at her in shock, a blind girl becoming a Hero!?

"I take it you think I can't do it," Marie said in Japanese, "Well, I'll do it anyway. My Dad trained me to use my body to the fullest extent, and I've been training to adapt to being blind." "Yeah…but…villains are vicious!" Uraraka said. Marie just silently pointed to her eyes, making Uraraka blush at how stupid her statement was. Marie sighed, "I know you're only looking out for me, trying to be nice. But I'm gonna do it, and nothing less than an act of God will stop me." Just as she finished speaking, the lights in the Mall immediately shut off.

"What's going on!?"

"Why's the power out!?"  
"Is it a storm?"

That was when they got their answer as a villain flew through the air. "Did you see that!?" Uraraka said, "Let's go Deku!" "Right," Izuku said, and quickly focused his power. _One for All, Full Cowl: 15%_ "He's heading for the electronics, I'll cut him off, you get Midnight-sensei!" Izuku yelled as he ran off at full speed, jumping and bouncing off the walls of the Mall as he moved at superhuman speed, using the light of the lightning his body gave off in Full Cowl Mode to light his way. He quickly caught up with the villain, he was glowing with electricity, and he saw it was an old man dressed in a black suit, he was bald but had a beard down his chest. The old villain saw Izuku and said, "Very good, young man. You're pretty fast. But are you faster than lightning!?"

The old villain blasted lightning at Izuku, and he quickly dodged it, hitting the ground. He quickly jumped up in time to barely avoid a second bolt, but it was close enough for his hair to stand up. _I need more speed, Full Cowl: 25%!_ The young Hero upped the power and found it easier to dodge the villain's electricity. _He's old, but he's fast, and experienced. But at this output I can get time to think. He has the range advantage, but I'm not trying to beat him, just distract him for Midnight-sensei to show up and use her Quirk to knock him out._

Just then, Izuku saw a mass of fur shoot past him, just as fast as his own Full Cowl 20% speed. "What was that!?" Izuku yelled out loud, before the creature jumped up towards the villain. The villain was still focused on Izuku and didn't see the creature before it jumped up with incredible strength and landed a kick to his chin. The old villain was knocked out instantly, and he immediately stopped glowing, and the power immediately turned back on in the Mall, as Uraraka showed up with Midnight-sensei. "Good job, Deku! You got him!" Uraraka said. "But I didn't do this," Izuku said, and then saw the one who did defeat the villain. It looked like Marie! Only covered in fur, her fingernails now two and a half centimeter long claws, and her teeth were sharp looking fangs.

"Marie! Did you do this?" Midnight asked. "Hell yeah, the old fart didn't know what hit him," Marie boasted in Japanese as Midnight got a pair of Quirk nullifying handcuffs from her purse and put them on the old villain before he regained consciousness. The old villain got up and saw Midnight, "Am I in Heaven?" "Sorry, but not yet," Midnight told him as Police arrived to apprehend the villain. "Thank you, Midnight," one officer said. "I just showed up after it was over," Midnight said, "My students are the ones that took him down, Midoriya-kun and Marie-chan." "Thank you for your help, young Heroes," the officer saluted Izuku and Marie, and they took the old villain away. "Well, that was exciting," Marie said as her fur went back into her body as her nails shrank down and her teeth returned to normal.

"I wanna go home." Everyone turned and saw Joey. "Are you sure, Joey-chan? Marie caught the villain," Midnight told him. Joey only nodded and went to hold his older sister's hand. "Alright, we'll go home, we got everything we needed anyway," Midnight said, then turned to Izuku and Uraraka, and a quickly running over Inko. "Izuku! Are you alright!? Were you hurt?" she asked, looking over him. "Oka-san, I'm alright, he never touched me, and I got enough control not to hurt myself now! Marie-kun defeated him while I kept him distracted," Izuku explained. Izuku's Mom sighed in relief, "What a relief. Marie-chan, Nemuri-chan explained that you wanted to go to U.A. High School with Izuku and Uraraka-chan. From what I hear, you'll do just fine." "Thank you, Midoriya-san," Marie said and bowed to her. She turned her attention to Izuku and Uraraka, "See you guys later. Midoriya, you're pretty good at what you do, can't wait to spar you some day. Uraraka, looking forward to seeing what you can do. Bye." With that, Joey and Midnight said their goodbyes, and the family left.

Izuku thought about Marie's performance as she left, and immediately took out his Notebook and started writing. "Marie (Last Name Unkown) Quirk: Lycanthrope…"


	7. Chapter 7: Meeting All the Classmates

**Chapter 7: Meeting All the Classmates**

 **Marie**

She took a deep breath when she realized they finally made it to the world famous U.A. Academy. She was in her uniform, backpack on her back, carrying a special laptop. Because of her blindness she would need to re-learn how to write in Japanese. Until she accomplished this, she would use a special Braille laptop computer that her teachers would download their lessons onto. Joey would be going to a nearby elementary school, Youda Elementary. He would take their Advanced Program in most subjects except for History, Japanese, and Homeroom. Joey would be going soon, after Midnight dropped him off at class. Aizawa finally walked over, "Freeman, follow my voice, you'll be in my homeroom." "Yes, Sensei," Marie said, then turned around and waved goodbye to Joey as their cab headed for his school. Marie followed the sound of Aizawa's footsteps and quickly caught up with him.

"Sensei…thank you for helping me come here," she told him as they walked. Aizawa grunted affirmatively, but then said, "Don't thank me yet. I might still expel you if you fail to meet my standards. If you step out of line too far, I'll expel you. If you prove to be a danger to your fellow students, I'll expel you. The fact is, Freeman, that I owe you nothing, the same for your late Father. If I didn't think you had a chance to succeed, I wouldn't have agreed to help you get in. But that's all I'll do for you, from here on, you are just another student I have to teach, nothing more, nothing less." Marie nodded, "I understand, Aizawa-sensei." They were silent the rest of the way, until Aizawa opened a door and Marie followed him inside. "Oh, I forgot," Aizawa said, "We've had Braille signs added to the walls, so you can find your way, just check the corners of the walls." "Thank you, Aizawa-sensei," Marie said, then smelled a third person in the room.

"Iida-kun, I should have known you would be here early on the first day," Aizawa said. "Good morning, Aizawa-sensei! I want to always set a good example for my fellow students, as Class 1, I mean, 2-A's Class Representative, it is my duty after all," Iida said, "I would have spoken up earlier, but I did not wish to interrupt your explanation to our proud school's newest student." "Very well," Aizawa said, and Marie heard a sleeping bag being put on and zipped up, "Introduce yourselves, tell your new classmate whatever she wants to know. I need to rest."

Marie turned her attention to the Class Representative, Iida, and said, "Good morning, my name is Marie Freeman, I'm a transfer student here. It is nice to meet you." She bowed to Iida and heard him say, "And a good morning to you as well, Freeman-san. As I said earlier, I am the Class Representative for our Class, 2-A. My name is Iida Tenya, I look forward to working with you. Let us work hard to become great heroes together." "Thank you," Marie said, and asked, "So, is there any desk where I may sit?" "Desks have not been assigned, so you may sit next to me, if you wish," Iida said, and Marie thought she heard his hands moving through the air. She followed the noise of his voice and managed not to run into any desks. "Freeman-san, I feel I must say that your sunglasses are a violation of the School's Dress Code, unless you require them for your Quirk," Iida said as Marie sat down.

"Alright," Marie said, and took her sunglasses off and put them in her backpack and turned her head in his direction. "Ah…I see…you…" Iida was fumbling a little so Marie decided to be blunt, "Yeah, I'm blind. For over two months now, three next week. But I've been getting tutoring to help me, and U.A. has allowed me some accommodations. Don't let it bother you too much." She heard Iida nod, "I apologize if I have offended you in any way. The fact that you are here is proof enough that your…injuries have not been an obstacle for you." "Apology accepted," Marie said, and then leaned closer to him, and took a deep smell. Iida Tenya smelled of soap, cologne, and she detected the smell of a machine's engine as well. "Iida-san, did you know that one's Quirk can affect their natural body odor?" she asked. "No, I did not. Although that does make sense, since one's Quirk affects your biology. Why do you ask?" Iida responded.

"You smell faintly like a machine engine. Is your Quirk related to engines?" Marie asked. "Indeed, my Quirk is called 'Engine', I have natural engines within my legs that allow me bursts of superhuman speed. I take it your Quirk is related to wolves?" Iida said. "Sort of," Marie said, "My Quirk is called 'Lycanthrope', I'm basically like a werewolf." Marie then demonstrated and transformed, letting her fur out as her teeth turned into sharp fangs while her nails became even sharper claws. "That is quite a Quirk. You should do well here, we have many students with similar animal-like Quirks, although I will let my fellow students speak for themselves," Iida said.

For the next hour Marie and Iida talked alone, Iida told her about the last year in U.A. while she told him about her life in America in return. Soon another student showed up, this one was a female who smelled like fancy perfume. "Good morning, Iida-san," the girl who smelled like fancy perfume said. "Good morning, Yaoyorozu-san, it is good to see you. I was just telling our newest fellow student about our first year in U.A. Freeman-san, this is Yaoyorozu Momo, our Vice-Class Representative. Yaoyorozu-san, this is Marie Freeman, she is a transfer student from America," Iida greeted Yaoyorozu and introduced her and Marie. Marie and Yaoyorozu Momo bowed to each other and Yaoyorozu said, "It's nice to meet you, Freeman-san. May I ask which part of America you are from?"

Marie smiled, "I'm a South Carolina girl, born and bred. The city of Summerville to be specific, birthplace of sweet iced tea." "Wonderful, my family once vacationed in South Carolina, in Columbia. The Museums were quite a treat," Yaoyorozu said. "Yeah, my parents used to take us to the State Museum and Children's Museum every summer. My little brother, Joey, loved it all the time. He's more of a history buff than me, though I always looked forward to the American Civil War exhibits," Marie said as they talked about the museums and explained some of the history of South Carolina to Iida, who listened very carefully.

Soon the rest of the class came, and Marie got a chance to smell all of her new classmates. Yaoyorozu Momo smelled unique, a blend of many different smells, like a market and mall rolled into one, Tsuyu Asui smelled like a frog, appropriate to her Quirk, while Tokoyami Fumikage smelled strange as well, a mixture of crow and nothingness, which he explained was because of his Quirk, Dark Shadow. Mineta Minoru smelled like glue and grapes, Ashido Mina like battery acid, Todoroki Shouto had another odd smell, like boiling water, he explained he had a hybrid Quirk like Joey, in his case he could control both fire and ice. Mashirao Ojiro had an especially strong smell, though it was only stronger than a normal human's smell; he said it was because of a thick, strong tail he had that Marie was allowed to touch, it gave her a number of ideas. Aoyama Yuga smelled like a bellybutton and plasma, Hagakure Toru smelled like a mirror, explained by her Quirk being Invisibility, Jirou Kyokya smelled slightly of earwax, while the boy she came in with, Kaminari Denki, smelled like a live electrical wire.

Shouji Mezo had a strong smell like Mashirao, because his body could grow extra body parts, Sero Hanta smelled like tape, Satou Rikido smelled of sugar and adrenaline, while Kouda Kouji smelled like a blend of animals, almost like a zoo or forest while Kirishima Eijirou smelled like solid steel. The next student to come however was Bakugou Katsuki. He walked up and said, "Hey, what are you losers looking at?" "Hello," Marie introduced herself, "I'm Marie Freeman, I transferred here from America. It's nice to meet you." "Whatever. I don't give a shit either way, Extra," Bakugou said, and sat on his seat. "Bakugou! That is no way to treat our new comrade! She has been nothing but courteous to you!" Iida chastised him. "It's alright, Iida. I've dealt with jerks back home. They're never worth your time," Marie said.

That set Bakugou off, as he stood up and stopped over to her. "You think you can take me on, Kuroko?!" he yelled in her face. Marie's eyebrows raised, "Did you seriously just call me 'black girl' in Japanese?" "Yeah, what's it to you?!" Bakugou yelled, this time slamming his hand on her desk and making an explosion, she smelled his nitro glycerin sweat clearly then. _I found the school bully/asshole. Well, at least everyone else around here is nice._ "My name is Marie Freeman. I don't care if you use honorifics or not, but I'd like it if you called me by my name. And just so you know, yeah, if we ever fought seriously, I'd beat you down, hard," Marie told him. Everyone gasped at this, and Bakugou's hands went off like a string of fireworks. "Bring it on, Ku-ro-ko!" Bakugou yelled, making sure to emphasize every syllable.

"Freeman-san! Bakugou-san! This isn't appropriate behavior for heroes-in-training!" Iida yelled. "Bakugou! Cool off man!" Kirishima and Kaminari both yelled. "That's enough!" Aizawa-sensei yelled, and all of a sudden Marie felt as if a hundred tons was on her. "Bakugou-kun, Marie-kun, one more outburst in class and I'll expel you both! Understood?" the veteran Hero declared. "Yes, Aizawa-sensei," Marie said. Bakugou only clicked his tongue, but she thought she heard his hair move in a nodding motion, and the feeling that she was weighed down disappeared. That was when Midoriya and Uraraka finally arrived, just before the bell could ring. "Everyone to your desks!" Iida yelled, and everyone sat down.

"Now then, since introductions have already been made," Aizawa said as he stepped out of his sleeping bag, "There's no need for me to make any formal announcements about our new transfer student. That said, I want you all to change into your gym suits. I hope you remember your first year, it's time for your Second-Year Quirk Apprehension Test. If you don't show a marked improvement since last year, then I hope you're ready for extreme remedial courses." "Yes sir!" everyone said. Marie grabbed Uraraka's shoulder as they left and said, "Do you mind if you help me get to the changing room?" "Go ahead, do you want to just take my hand instead?" Uraraka asked. "Sure," Marie said. As Uraraka took her hand, Marie noticed her fingertips had soft pads on them, like soft calluses almost. As they walked, she said, "Uraraka, your fingertips have these pads on them. Is it related to your Quirk?" "Yeah," Uraraka confirmed, "My Quirk is 'Zero Gravity', basically if I touch something with all my fingers, it shuts its gravity off."

"Cool, I bet you can make guys' jaws drop in the gym with that Quirk," Marie chuckled. Uraraka snorted at that, "Only if they didn't know my Quirk, but after a year, all our classmates know." "That makes sense. Almost everyone I've talked with, I could smell what their Quirk was related to, except for you, Tokoyami, and Midoriya," Marie said. "Really?" Uraraka asked. "It's the weirdest thing," Marie said as they walked, "with all other strength enhancing Quirks I've come across, they reeked of testosterone or adrenaline of something a mixture of both. But not him." "That is strange," Uraraka agreed, "Oh look, we're here."

The girls went into their changing room and Ashido said, "Oh look, there's a uniform for Freeman-chan." "Huh, I was wondering why Aizawa-sensei didn't give me one," she said. She lifted up the plastic wrapped clothes and felt a sticky note on it. "Hey, what does this note say?" she asked the room. Asui answered, "It says, 'To Marie, knock 'em dead. Love, Mom' kero." "Thanks, Asui-san," Marie said as she opened the package. "You can call me 'Tsuyu-chan'," Tsuyu said. "Thanks again, Tsuyu-chan," Marie corrected herself. The frog girl 'kero'd happily as Marie started changing her clothes. "Holy cow!" Ashido exclaimed, "Are those real!?" "Huh?" Marie responded.

"Those abs! Those muscles! You could carve meat on your bod!" Ashido declared, and the other girls gave noises of agreement. "Oh, yeah. My Quirk naturally increases all my physical abilities tenfold," Marie explained as she transformed and started putting her gym uniform on, "so my Dad helped me train my body to be as strong, fast, tough, flexible…basically to make me the best I could be to take full advantage of it. I'm no All Might, but I'm pretty dang strong when I go all out. Last I checked, I weigh about 152 pounds, I think that's about 69 kilograms. There were others stronger than me, but pound for pound, I was one of the strongest people at my old school, Rogers and Stark High." "How strong are you, anyway?" Jirou asked. "Last time I lifted weights, I bench pressed 300 pounds, about 136 kilograms in my normal form," Marie answered. All the girls gasped at that, "O-o-one-hundred-thirty-six Kilos!?" Toru yelled.

"Yeah…hey, it's not like I was born this strong, I had to work hard for years, ever since I was six and decided I wanted to follow in my Dad's footsteps. Anyone can get the same results if they work hard and long enough for it," Marie said. "Alright," Yaoyorozu said, "I think that's enough prying, we need to get outside." All the girls agreed, and they quickly headed outside where the Quirk Apprehension Test was being held. Once all the students were assembled, the Quirk Apprehension Test started. For the first event, the 50 Meter Dash, Marie managed to pass it at 2.84 seconds. For Grip Strength, she came out with 597.3 kilograms, easily cleared the sandbox for the Standing Long Jump, and she was sure she had done the equivalent of a mile run in the Repeated Side Steps test. For Sit-ups she managed to do an even sixty in one minute and held her Seated Toe Touch the entire time. The second to last test was the one where Marie really shined: The Ball Throw. She went after Bakugou, and he managed to toss his ball, with an Explosion that sent it flying at 854.6 meters. Bakugou laughed and growled, "Beat that, Deku! And the same goes for you, Kuroko!"

"Now, I'm getting annoyed," Marie said as she was handed her ball and Aizawa led her to where she had to go. Marie cracked her neck as she focused, she was determined to do better than him. She hefted the ball with her right hand and wound it up like a baseball, put her weight on her right foot, and then lifted up her left leg high. With a vicious howl that would have woken the dead, Marie threw the ball with all her might, from her legs to her core, to her chest, shoulders, arm, wrist she focused every ounce of strength she had and tossed the ball harder than she ever threw anything before! The other students of Class 2-A gasped as the ball went flying, and after a few seconds Aizawa told Marie, "You sent it 855.1 meters." Marie took a deep breath and turned her body towards Bakugou, who was already seething, and she set him off even more when she polished her bicep before saying said, "Eat it, Baka-gou!"

Bakugou glared at her, she could feel it, but he lowly growled, "I'll kill you if we ever fight." "Enough," Aizawa said, and Midoriya went next, the last student to go. Marie focused her senses on him, wanting to try to see if she smelled his Quirk. She heard as static electricity…no, this was a different energy, the lightning around him was just a little different in sound quality and smell, she didn't know what it was. She heard as he took his stance, and then heard the sound of a sonic boom as he threw the ball. Marie screamed in pain from the loud volume and flattened her wolf ears to the top of her head to avoid anymore pain. After a few seconds, Aizawa showed the class Midoriya's score, and everyone gasped. "What is it? What's his score?" Marie asked. "1003.7 meters!" Uraraka exclaimed.

"Midoriya-kun, how's your arm?" Aizawa asked. "It's just fine, Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya said, and Marie heard him clench his fist to prove it. "On to the final test then," Aizawa declared, and led them all to a running track and field for the Distance Run. Marie raced her heart out, determined to humiliate Bakugou again, and before she realized it, it was over. She heard the others perform the Distance Run, and once it was over, Aizawa displayed the results. "Wow, Deku! You made first place!" Uraraka said. "What did I make?" Marie asked. "Let's see, wow, you made Third Place, Marie! Good job!" Uraraka told her. Marie smiled, "What about Bakugou?" "He's in Fourth," Uraraka informed her. Marie turned to where she was sure Bakugou was and smirked at him. "Let it go man," Kirishima said, "You kind of asked for it."

Marie sighed as she deactivated her Quirk and returned to her normal form. She was tired, but happy. This was a good day for her.


	8. Chapter 8: Joey Makes Some Friends

**Chapter 8: Joey Makes Some Friends**

 **Joey**

Yohda Elementary didn't look too different from his old Elementary School, Marshall Elementary School, back in South Carolina. Joey was thankful for that as he hiked up his green and blue book-bag and stepped out of the taxi with Midnight. She was wearing a trench coat, it was cold enough for no one to comment on it, but he could tell her Hero Costume was underneath it. He was wearing an American shirt with one of the first heroes, Lieutenant Liberty, on it with regular jeans and red shoes and a yellow coat on. "Are you nervous?" Midnight asked him in English as they entered the school. Joey said, "Yeah." "Joseph was the same way when he first came to U.A.," she told him encouragingly, "It was the cutest thing, this big strong Yankee nervously walking the halls. But he quickly adjusted." They reached his Homeroom, Class 3-F, and Midnight knelt down to his eye-level and looked at him with her deep blue eyes.

"Joey, I see so much of your Father in you. Not just in looks, you have his brave and kind heart as well," Midnight said and pointed at Joey's chest, "Let it lead you, okay?" Joey nodded, and Midnight gave him a small kiss on the top of his head before walking away. "Bye," Joey told her, and she waved back at him before leaving the hall. Joey took one more deep breath and went into the classroom. Other children his age was already there, it was an eclectic bunch with nine boys and ten girls already seated. Some didn't look human, like one girl who looked like a mud monster, while a boy looked like some kind of bird monster, while others were clearly human, with hair nearly every color of the rainbow. Only three people, two boys and one girl, looked like they were what passed as 'normal' in the Pre-Quirk Era.

Everyone stared at him after five seconds, and Joey realized nervously that he was the only non-Japanese kid in the classroom. He swallowed and greeted them all in Japanese, "Hello, it is nice to meet you! My name is Joseph Freeman Junior, but you can call me Joey!" Joey bowed so low and quickly that his backpack slid up his back and was on top of his head. Everyone was quiet, until one girl with long white hair and a small horn protruding from her head greeted him, "Hello, Joey. My name is Aizawa Eri, you can come sit next to me if you want." "Thank you, Eri-san," Joey said, and quickly sat next to her. He saw that Eri was wearing a dark red dress with long white sleeves, the red was the same shade as her eyes he saw when he sat down.

"So, what's a gaijin doing here?" one boy finally said, and Joey looked up at him. He was one of the boys that looked normal, Joey saw that the boy was looking at him angrily, like he didn't like him already. "I live here now," Joey said, "With my sister, and our…adoptive mom." The boy snorted, and a strong wind blew from the boy's nostrils, enough to move loose papers and some girls' hair. "You stop that right now, Saito-san," Eri said to the boy, "Joey-san hasn't done anything to deserve you looking at him like that." The boy, Saito-san said, "We don't need some gaijin to come here, thinking he's so big and tough, going to show us up." "I only walked through the door!" Joey declared, "And then you just got all angry!"

Saito looked at Joey, and breathed in, enough for his chest to start expanding like a balloon, before the door opened and a tall old woman, she must have been at least six feet tall with short white hair and a face full of wrinkles, walked in and said in a voice that was full of God's Wrath, "There will be no fighting in my classroom." She said it sternly without raising her voice above a leisurely volume, but Saito immediately deflated, literally, "Yes, Sensei."

"Now then," the Homeroom Teacher, for who else could she be, said, "My name is Ono Sakura, I shall be your Homeroom Teacher for the year. Good morning, class." "Good morning, Ono-sensei," everyone greeted their teacher. "Now then, let us have a good year," Ono-sensei said before starting roll call. Once roll call was finished, Ono-sensei said, "Since everyone is here, why don't we get to know each other better? For the next half-hour, you will all write an essay about yourselves. You may write as much or little as you like, but I want you to make sure to write: your favorite foods, things you hate, things you love, and what you'd like to be when you grow up. You may begin." Joey got out his notebook and started writing the things she asked down the students to write down; but didn't know what to write after that.

 _I don't know if I want everyone to know my life…_ He and Marie had done some research online about Midnight: the scandal involving her original outfit, speculations about who she slept with, what her home was like, and things that Marie put a parental lock on her laptop for to keep him from seeing them. And even if he did tell the truth, who would believe him? They'd probably call him a liar, people might think he was a pervert. Eri could be his first real friend in Japan, and he didn't want her to think he was a pervert! He raised his hand and Ono-sensei said, "Yes, Josefu-chan?" "Ono-sensei," Joey started, "Do we have to read our reports in front of the class?" Ono-sensei looked concerned before saying, "I will not force you to read what you write if you do not want to." "Thank you, Sensei," Joey said before getting back to writing. Eri looked at him but said nothing as she focused on writing her own essay.

Joey wrote about his life before his parents died; and stopped to take a deep breath before writing about the day they died, and everything that happened afterwards that he could. By the time the thirty minutes were up, Joey was amazed at how much he had written, all of it in Japanese. Joey whispered in English, "All those lessons paid off after all."

"Those who do not wish to read your essays to the class may turn them in to me now. Everyone else, you may read yours in the order I call you," Ono-sensei said. Joey and five other kids turned their essays in to her before sitting down again. Joey went back to his desk and was surprised to see that Eri was first. Eri looked around and took a deep breath before telling her story.

"I remember the first time that I smiled. I was at a Cultural Festival at U.A., with Mirio-nii-san and Deku-nii-san, they were the Heroes who saved me. Before, my life was filled with pain, and misery. Many awful men tortured me to use my Quirk to hurt other people. Mirio-nii-san and Deku-nii-san were the first people to ever be nice to me. Deku-nii-san told me that my Quirk was kind, and gentle. Together, the three of us defeated Chisaki Kai, and his Yakuza with the help of many more Heroes.

"I had to stay in the Hospital for a while, but Mirio-nii-san and Deku-nii-san visited me whenever they could, to help me feel better. When I got better, Mirio-nii-san and Aizawa-tou-san took me to the Cultural Festival. I had so much fun with everyone there, and even saw Deku-nii-san in a play. Seeing my hero there, was one of the best things to ever happen to me. And at the end of the Cultural Festival, he even gave me a candy apple, the best thing I've ever had.

"I've had more happy days since then, but I'll always remember that day as the best day of my life, the first time I ever smiled. I love apples and Heroes, my favorite color is red, I hate the dark, and birds, except for Tokoyami-nii-san, and I hope that one day I can use my Quirk like Deku-nii-san said, to use it as a kind and gentle Quirk, so I can help as many people as I can, like Deku-nii-san and Mirio-nii-san."

Everyone looked at Eri as she walked back to her desk. Joey was amazed, he could tell that he wasn't the only one in class who had lived through some bad things. Eri's life sounded like it was much worse than his had been, until 'Deku-nii-san and Mirio-nii-san' had helped her. _Wait…Deku…no way, she doesn't mean that green haired guy that was with Uraraka-san, does she?!_ Joseph paid attention to the rest of class, but Eri was on the back of his mind as the school day went on. Eventually, it was time for lunch, and Joseph made sure to sit next to Eri, so he could talk to her.

Midnight had packed a small bento box for him, with rice, peach slices, and chicken she had made for him. As he ate, he saw Eri had rice and chicken as well, only instead of peach slices, she had apple slices. Joey quietly ate as did Eri, and they finished eating around the same time. "Eri-chan," he said when she was done eating. "Yes, Joey-san?" she responded. "That Deku-nii-san you mentioned in your essay, does he have green hair, and eyes, and freckles on his face?" he asked her. Eri's eyes lit up a little, and she excitedly asked him, "Yeah! Did he save you too?" "No no," Joey quickly said, flustered, "But I did meet him, a few weeks before school started, my sister and I were school supply shopping with our adopted Mom, and met him, and his Mom, Midoriya-san, with his friend, Uraraka-san." Eri smiled, "It's nice to know he's doing well. I wish I could see him more, but Aizawa-tou-san told me that Heroes have busy lives. We still write though."

Joey smacked his head, "Aizawa-sensei is your Dad, isn't he? Always looks tired, long black hair, scar under his left eye?" "Wow, you know him too?" Eri said. "Yeah," Joey admitted, "He's teaching my big sister at U.A. Deku and Marie might be in the same class." "That's so cool!" Eri said, when Saito blew a little air their way. "You really think anyone believes that story you told?" Saito said to Eri. "It's not a story!" Eri told him, "It's the truth!" "Leave her alone, Saito," Joey said, standing up, "You weren't there, so you don't know what happened. I believe Eri-chan." Saito glared at Joey, "A gaijin and a liar together, how disgusting."

Joey glared back at Saito, and Joey's eyes started to glow, like his Father's would when he was angry. "I heard you saying you want to be a Hero. You may have a good Quirk, but you're just a bully. You don't have what it takes to be a real Hero." Saito glared back at him and quietly said, "I'll show you what I can do at recess." Joey snorted as his eyes returned to normal. "Joey, I think that's a bad idea," Eri told him, "If you fight on the first day of school, what will Ono-sensei say? Or your family?" Joey took a second to take a deep breath, like his Mom taught him, and let the anger in him go into his chest, and then flow out his feet into the ground. "Mom and Dad always told me that a Hero always stands up for people who need help. Especially for their friends," Joey said.

Eri smiled a little at being called his friend, and then the bell rang, it was time for recess. All the kids went out to the school playground. Joey and Eri waited by the swings, and some of the other students from their homeroom came by, the mud girl and a boy with purple hair and pink eyes came over. "Are you really fighting Saito?" the purple haired boy asked. Joey shrugged, "I'm not going to run away from him. Um…aren't you Yamato and Higashikata?" "Right," the mud girl said, her whole body was the shape of a girl, but her skin looked like it was always running, like a lit candle, and her eyes were all black, "Yamato Rukia, that's me." "And I'm Higashikata Jougo," the purple haired boy said, "And you're crazy if you think you can win against Saito! His Quirk, Windbag, is crazy strong, he can blow all the leaves off a whole tree! He'll send you flying straight to the next prefecture! We know, we've been at school with him since Kindergarten!"

"Thanks for the warning," Joey said, "But my Dad was a Hero, and my big sister is training to become a great Hero too. They taught me how to use my Quirk, and how to fight with it. Dad fought a lot of bad guys that people said had better Quirks that him, and he beat them anyway. And, if push comes to shove, I can use my Mom's Quirk." Just as Joey said this, a powerful wind blew. Eri and Rukia both had to hold their skirts, so their underwear didn't show, and Joey had to brace himself like his Dad had showed him, focusing his weight on his feet.

Joey looked to see Saito smirking, and Joey took off his shoes, and activated his Dad's Quirk. His feet morphed to be more wolf-like, while a tail sprouted from under his pants, and white fur covered his body. Joey's nails grew into three-quarter inch long claws and his jaw turned into an underbite that let his lower canines stick out past his lips. "I'm not afraid of you, Saito," Joey said, his voice growing deeper and sounding more like a growl. His strength was multiplied by a factor of eight, not as strong as Marie, but strong enough.

"I don't want to fight, but I'm not going to run away from a bully like you either," Joey said as he got ready to run at Saito. He didn't see any teachers around, so that meant that if they fought, someone could get hurt before it was stopped. Saito smirked and breathed in deeply, until he looked like a balloon about to burst instead of a kid. Joey quickly ran at him as fast as he could and reached him just as he got ready to blow all that air out. Joey grabbed Saito's chin as it came down, and pointed his face up into the sky, then smacked him hard in his inflated body. Saito blew out his wind so hard that Joey struggled not to fall to his knees from the recoil.

Joey grabbed Saito's shirt and turned around, flipping him over his shoulder like he'd seen Marie do to their Dad. Saito hit the ground hard, Joey quickly got on top of him, pinning him down before deactivating his Quirk. Saito looked at Joey, and his eyes were wide with fear. "Saito, I don't want to hurt you anymore, alright? Let's just put this all behind us. Say you're sorry for calling Eri-chan a liar, and we can call this even, okay?" Joey said. He meant every word, Marie and his Dad only taught him how to fight so he would be safe, not so he would hurt people. A Hero only hurt a Villain as badly as they needed to stop the Villain.

After ten seconds, Saito nodded, and Joey got off him. Saito walked over to Eri and bowed without looking at her, "I'm sorry I called you a liar." He then turned and walked away from them. Rukia and Jougo looked at Joey with wide eyes as he got his shoes back on. "You beat him!" Jougo said. "My big sister, Marie, and Dad taught me how to fight, and I used to watch my Dad fight Villains with Quirks like Saito's on the computer. They always said to go straight in when your opponent tries a big move," Joey explained. "Wow…" Eri said, "You'd make a great Hero, Joey." "I…I guess," he said, "But I don't know…"

For the rest of the school day, nothing important happened, although he got to talk more with Jougo and Rukia. All in all, it wasn't a bad day for Joey.


	9. Chapter 9: Marie Spars Deku

**Chapter 9: Marie Spars Deku**

 **Marie**

After her classes were done, Marie headed to her dorm room with the other girls helping her navigate through U.A., if she completed her homework fast enough then she could spend a few hours training in the Dorm's Gym. On entering, the other girls all looked around. "Wow, it's definitely…different," Ashido Mina said. "I know, I just wanted to bring as much of home with me as I could," Marie admitted as she found her desk. Next to her desk was her mini-fridge and a small stovetop heater, with kettle on. Her bed was on the far wall, while next to her door were two bookshelves filled with horror movies and novels, while her walls were decorated with an assortment of posters for Fool Moon 2 Nite and horror movies, and one wall had the flag of the United States and South Carolina on it, under which was her Father's Presidential Medal of Liberty, granted to Heroes who went above the call of duty. Next to Marie's bed was a shrine for her deceased parents.

"So," Marie said, "Do you guys want any American iced tea? I got unsweetened, sweetened, and peach tea." "Sure," Tsuyu said. "I'll try it," Uraraka said. "Isn't that like really cold?" Jiro said. "Don't be rude," Ashido said. "Sounds nice," Yaoyorozu said. "Oooh! I've always wanted to try peach tea!" Toru said. Marie got some cups from a container under her bed and pointed out which teas were which. Toru and Yaoyorozu had peach tea, Jiro and Uraraka had unsweetened, while Tsuyu and Ashido had sweetened tea. Marie had peach tea and Ashido said, "Here's a toast! To our new swol girl, Marie! Welcome to U.A.!" The seven girls clinked their plastic cups together as Marie heard them all say, "Welcome to U.A.!" "Thanks girls," Marie said as she took a big swallow of her peach tea. "WOW! That is really sweet!" Toru yelled.

"I know, it's pretty much the only sugar I have, no more than two cups a day can ruin my diet," Marie said. "It's not as bad as I thought it would be," Uraraka commented. "Yeah, but WOW! This tea is really sweet! Like candy or something," Ashido said. "The secret," Marie said as she opened her laptop, "is to add the sugar and stir it up while the tea is hot and fresh. That was how my Grandma taught me to make it. I don't use as much for peach tea because the peach juice makes it good already. Hope you like it, that's genuine South Carolina tea, made in the Charleston Tea Plantation. South Carolina is the only state in the U.S. where tea can be grown." Jiro took a second sip, "It's good, but I don't think I'll make it a habit to drink cold tea in Fall." The other girls agreed, cold tea was definitely a summertime drink.

The girls all sat and worked on their assignments together. Yaoyorozu was a great help for Marie, her Japanese wasn't as good as she liked, and some of the more historical terms left her stumped, and soon they were all done with their assignments and just started talking. Marie told them about her life, including how she wound up in Japan, and received a lot of sympathy from her classmates in return. After an hour, there was a knock on the door. "Marie, Joey's here," Midnight said on the other side in English. "Door's open," Marie replied, and Marie came in with Joey beside her. "Oh hey," Ashido said in English, "You must be Joey. Your Big Sis was just talking about you." "Hi," Joey shyly greeted all the girls, and Marie thought she smelled some hormones coming off him and smirked.

"Oh, he's so cute!" Ashido said in Japanese, and the other girls agreed. If it wasn't for Joey's skin color, he'd have been as red as a tomato. "Well, that's it for homework, I'm heading to the Gym. Wanna come, Joey?" Marie told her little brother. "Yeah! I saw some of the boys working out. Deku is pretty cool, he had this one guy, uh…Kaminari, sitting on his back while he was doing pushups, like you and Dad used to do!" Joey excitedly said. "Alright, let me change," Marie said. She grabbed her gym clothes and changed, after Joey was escorted out her room. Marie headed out with Joey, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Toru, and Ashido coming along, with Midnight leading them. Marie smelled the boys' sweat as they got close to the Gym; and would be lying if she said it didn't excite her.

She heard as Midoriya and Kaminari were now competing with Bakugou and Kirishima. "Forty-five…Forty-six…Forty-seven! I can make it to one hundred way faster than you, shitty Deku!" Bakugou yelled. "Mind if I join in?" Marie said as she walked in. "Go ahead," Midoriya said, only to be drowned out by Bakugou, "You're too late, Kuroko! You can't catch up to us!" Marie's tail wagged at that as she smiled, "Challenge accepted. Uraraka, get on my back." "Alright!" Uraraka said as Marie got into position. "Hang on," Marie warned her as Uraraka grabbed Marie's shirt. Marie immediately started doing pushups like her life depended on it, soon doing thirty in thirty-five seconds. "HEY!" Bakugou yelled, "No cheating, Pink Cheeks! Don't help that bitch by using your Quirk!" "I-I-I'M N-N-NOT!" Uraraka yelled as she struggled to hold on to Marie, who was moving like a bull riding machine, up and down, up and down.

"GO MARIE!" Joey yelled. "More like rokuju-go," Yaoyorozu said as the whole class started watching the three-way contest. Marie, Midoriya, and Bakugou started slowing when they hit ninety, but none of them stopped. Marie was sweating furiously, but kept on pushing, counting in English, "Ninety-three…Nin…ty…four…Nine…ty…five…" The three of them were all sweating furiously, it was a struggle to do pushup ninety-nine. _Pushed too hard too early…focus! Even if you're not Number One, you can always finish! That's what Dad always said!_ Marie was growling furiously as she yelled, "ONE-HUNDRED!" At the same time, Midoriya and Bakugou yelled, "HYAKU!" "Say what?" Marie said as Uraraka got off her and she flopped to the ground. "We're tied?"

Bakugou yelled, "HOW THE HELL DID THESE ASSHOLES TIE WITH ME?!" Kirishima said, "Aw yeah! THAT WAS THE MANLIEST CONTEST I'VE EVER SEEN! FREEMAN-CHAN, YOU'RE ONE MANLY GIRL!" Marie laughed, "I'll take that as a compliment." "That was a compliment," Kaminari said, "coming from Kirishima. Good job, Midoriya, Freeman-chan." "Good job, Deku-nii-san!" a little girl yelled. "Eri-chan! I didn't see you!" "Huh?" Marie said as she realized that the smell of sweat, and her own excitement for the contest, led her to miss that a little girl was in the room. "Midoriya, who's that? You got a little sister?" Marie asked. "Huh? Oh, no, this is Eri-chan," Midoriya explained as he walked closer to Marie, holding Eri, "Last year, I saved her from this Yakuza gang, the Eight Precepts of Death. They were…monsters to her. She's an orphan, so U.A. kind of adopted her, although Aizawa-sensei is her usual guardian."

"Nice to meet you, Eri-chan," Marie said, and held out her hand. Eri put her smaller hand in hers and Marie shook it. "Are you Joey-san's big sister?" Eri asked. "Got it in one," Marie told her. "You're really strong," Eri said, "But Deku-nii-san is stronger when he uses his Quirk." "Oh yeah?" Marie asked. "Yeah," Eri excitedly said, "Deku-nii-san beat Chisaki, and Chisaki turned into a giant monster, and Deku kicked him up into the sky! And then knocked him out with another kick! POW!" Midoriya bashfully laughed, "It was a little more complicated than that, but I couldn't have done it without you, Eri-chan." Marie's jaw dropped, "You mean she's serious!?" Midoriya answered, "Well…yeah."

"Midoriya, spar me, now!" Marie excitedly said. "You mean right now?" Midoriya said. "Yeah! After hearing that, I need to experience that myself! I've been itching to spar someone here. Just for like…three minutes!" Marie said. "OOOHHHH!"

Everyone looked, except for Marie, but she could smell the excitement coming off of her Mother. "This is a perfect opportunity for the power of youth to show itself! I'll even referee it!" Midnight happily offered. "Are you sure, Sensei?" Uraraka said, "I mean, Deku-kun and sparring doesn't always…" "They'll be fine," Midnight cut her off, "As soon as someone has sustained a terrible injury, I'll end the match. It'll only be for three minutes, that shouldn't be too bad." "Come on Midoriya, show me what you're made of," Marie said with a smile. Midoriya sighed, "Alright…but we need more space…and time to stretch." "Just follow me then," Midnight said, leading everyone out of the Gym, no one wanted to miss this.

Midnight led them to another building, judging by the acoustics, it was a fairly large building, maybe enough to hold an entire passenger plane. Midnight explained, "This is Training Center Alpha, it's rather simple, only a flat surface with sand, but it should prove adequate for our needs." Marie felt the ground, the sand wasn't too deep, just enough to cushion any falls. "Now then," Midnight declared, "This sparring match shall be one round of three minutes. The winner will be the one to make ten points within that time limit. Strikes are worth one point, while pins and holds that last for ten seconds will be worth five points. There will be no biting, no eye gouging, no attacks to the groin or ears. If I tell you to stop, you will stop, or else you will forfeit the bout. Do you agree to my rules?" Marie nodded, "I got it." "Sounds fair," Midoriya said. "Now," Midnight said, "Take ten minutes to stretch you two."

Marie did as ordered and started stretching. She could practically feel people's eyes on her when she touched her knuckles to the ground. She breathed deeply as she stretched, feeling her muscles loosen up, embracing the pain. As she stretched, Midnight said, "Marie, be careful. Midoriya-kun's Quirk is one of the most powerful I've ever encountered. In fact, for a significant portion of his first year, he couldn't control it. Every time he used it, he would shatter his bones. Don't underestimate him." Marie grunted as she sat down, stretched her legs out and reached for her heels, "Isn't it cheating to give me advise?" "I'm going to tell Midoriya about you as well to make it fair. But, as your mother, I want you to be careful. In a head to head confrontation, I have no doubt that he can beat you." "I understand," Marie said, "And thank you, Kaa-san. But I need this. Even if I lose, this will help me keep moving forward." Midnight nodded and headed over to Midoriya.

After the ten minutes were up, Marie and Midoriya walked to the center of the Training Center. Marie clenched her right fist and brought it to chin height before wrapping her left over it and bowing to Midoriya, "Let's have a good fight." Midoriya was flustered, but bowed in the Japanese manner before saying, "Let's have a good fight." Marie and Midoriya assumed their stances and activated their Quirks as Midnight said, "Ready!" "BEGIN!" the Pro-Hero yelled as the sound of a whip crack thundered through the air.

Midoriya went for a punch, only for Marie to deflect it to the side and kick his stomach. She then followed up by pouncing towards him, but he avoided her. Marie dodged a kick and kicked him again in the chest. "Midoriya, if you're holding back on me, I swear to God I will kick your ass over your head," Marie growled as she attempted a chopping strike that Midoriya caught, and then he landed a hard punch to her stomach. Marie struck his forearm to make him let go and they both backed away. "That's more like it," Marie said as she ran at him after catching her breath. Midoriya caught her arm a she tried a punch, and then threw her to the ground, keeping hold of her to then put her in a tight arm lock. Marie struggled to break free, but Midoriya's technique was solid enough to keep her from breaking his arm lock. "That's it! Come up!" Midnight declared.

Marie and Midoriya got up and Marie rolled her shoulder to make sure her arm was fine. "The score is six for Midoriya, and two for Freeman!" Midnight said, "Fighters get ready!" Marie took a deep breath and assumed her stance again, Midoriya was raw, unpolished, but his technique was adequate, and any weaknesses in technique were overcome by the raw strength his Quirk granted him. _His smell…what the Hell…not enough adrenaline or testosterone, his strength isn't just from those fine muscles I'm feeling. Mom was right, I can't overpower him. Need to fight smarter_

"GO!" Midnight yelled. Midoriya jumped at Marie with speed that defied belief, but she still managed to block his kick and grabbed his ankle. She then felt as something hit her, making her let go. "The Hell!?" she yelled, then barely dodged another kick before flipping back. _Was that…AIR!? Did he punch so hard that the shockwaves hit me!?_ Marie barely avoided another kick before throwing a hook kick that hit Midoriya's head. Midoriya was hit hard by it, and Marie seized her chance to jump on him and tackled him to the ground, holding him tight while she was on top and pinning him down. Marie struggled with all her might and managed to keep him pinned for ten seconds. "UP!" Midnight declared. Marie and Midoriya got up and Midnight announced, "The score is seven for Midoriya and eight for Freeman! This is the last minute! Fighters get ready!"

For the last time, Midoriya and Marie assumed their stances. "Midoriya," Marie said, "Thanks for this. I'm looking forward to spending the school year learning with you." Midoriya took a breath and said, "The feeling is mutual, Freeman-san. You're an amazing fighter." Their talk was ended when with one last crack of her whip Midnight yelled, "GO!"

Midoriya shot forward faster than before and landed a punch to Marie's face, and then another before she could block it. Marie jumped over him to avoid another strike and spun around for a side kick that hit his stomach hard, making him stumble back. Marie ran at him full speed, ready to end it with a palm strike, only for Midoriya's fist to slam into her palm instead.

Marie could only feel shock then. There was no other word for the sensation of feeling every bone in her arm; her hand, to her wrist, to her forearm, elbow, upper arm and shoulder shatter all at once. Her right arm slumped instantly, like a boneless worm. Marie could only fall to her knees, feeling as Midoriya helped her up. "I'm so sorry!" he said, over and over again. The words didn't reach Marie's brain for five seconds as she felt her Mom hold her. That was when the pain finally hit her. Marie screamed so loud that the entire Training Center echoed with her scream. She kept on screaming in pain as she was carried out, and into the main building. She recognized that it was Midoriya carrying her as they got up to the Nurse's Office.

"Recovery Girl!" Midoriya said as he went in and explained what had happened. "Midoriya! I can't believe this! Bad enough that you nearly destroyed your arms last year, but now you're doing that to a fellow student!?" "Wait," Marie managed to say. Recovery Girl stopped yelling at Midoriya and Marie said, "I wanted to spar him. He just went along with it. It was all my idea. Don't punish him, at least, if you do, I deserve the same punishment," Marie managed to say through gritted teeth as she struggled to remain conscious. Recovery Girl sighed, "This generation. You kids have no self-preservation instincts at all."

Recovery Girl then went to Marie and kissed her arm, and Marie felt as her arm healed, and the pain stopped. Marie flexed her arm and rolled her wrist and moved her fingers a few times. She was completely healed. "Thank you, Recovery Girl," Marie said. "Don't do something so reckless ever again!" Recovery Girl said, "That goes for both of you!" "Yes, Sensei!" they yelled. "You can go now," Recovery Girl dismissed the Heroes-in-Training, and they left her office.

As they walked back, Midoriya said, "Freeman-kun, I'm so sorry. I was trying to hit you, and your hand, and-" "Forget it," Marie cut him off, "I challenged you, I got what I had coming to me. Besides, I'm all better now. You got nothing to apologize for." Marie smiled as they continued heading back to the Training Center, "You know Midoriya, I think I could fall for a guy like you." "HUH?" Midoriya stopped in shock, and Marie laughed as he started babbling incoherently. It wasn't the best way to end a fight, but she was satisfied with it.

 **Author's Note: Happy New Year! I hope this makes up for the wait!**


	10. Chapter 10: Midnight Musings

**Chapter 10: Midnight Musings**

 **Midnight**

Nemuri walked the streets, her Boys never far behind, but far enough to let her think. She thought about her children's first days at school as she walked. So far, the night had been quiet. She had been most worried about Joey and was happy to know he had made friends with Eri, along with other friends like Higashikata Jougo and Yamato Rukia. Marie's fight with Midoriya hadn't gone like she thought it would, yet Marie held no grudge, and even seemed to like Midoriya-kun more afterwards; and encouraged Joey not to hold her injury against him. "Accidents happen when you spar," she had told her little brother, "And besides, I think this counts as a draw anyway." The rest of the day was uneventful, Marie was staying at the U.A. Dorms while Joey was asleep in his bed at Nemuri's apartment with a babysitter watching him. The girl was starstruck when she realized she was babysitting for the Eighteen Plus Hero, and actually worked this first night for free, after Nemuri gave her an autograph.

She hated that she hadn't had time to be the 'Fun Mom.' Unfortunately, between her two jobs and hiring tutors for Joey to teach him Japanese and Marie to help her adapt to her blindness, she just didn't have the time to really have any bonding moments, to go out and show Marie and Joey what it was really like in Japan, to take them to places, festivals, maybe a park or museum. But so far, the most bonding time the new family had had was playing board games and watching TV.

Marie had accepted her, the good and bad, to Midnight's relief. They would talk after Marie sang Joey to sleep with an Indian lullaby. Marie didn't fully understand it, but she had heard Joey's late Mother, Mysa, sing it enough time to imitate it. Midnight didn't hold anything back, if Marie asked, she answered honestly. She told her about her life and lovers, what Joseph had been like when they were together. Those times were the worst, as Marie would happily cry at the memories of her dead Father.

Midnight was driven from her thoughts at the sound of people screaming. "BOYS! TO ME!" Midnight ordered, and her Midnight Boys immediately followed her as she ran to the sound of people screaming. They saw a villain that looked like a pink furred gorilla wearing jeans and armed with a large mallet. The villain yelled as he swung his mallet at a car, sending it flying. "Sanjuro!" Midnight yelled. Sanjuro immediately lifted his hands and used his Quirk, Ferrokinesis, to slowly bring the flying car down. Midnight cracked her whip, grabbing the gorilla villain's attention and signaling for her three other Boys to surround the villain.

"Hey big boy! Is that a hammer or are you just happy to see me?" she taunted him as she prepared to tear one of her sleeves off. The gorilla villain laughed, and then the mallet seemed to melt, and then mold itself into a mask. "SHIT!" Midnight yelled as she quickly tore her sleeve, releasing her sleeping fragrance. She was too late though, the gorilla villain put the mask over his mouth and nose, and then charged at her as fast as he could. Midnight just managed to side step the villain and swung her whip in time for her whip to crack right next to his ear. The villain screamed in pain and gave her time to use her whip one more time to smack the mask off the villain's face. Midnight tore her sleeve a little more, and this time her fragrance worked its magic, and the gorilla villain fell asleep.

"MISTRESS!" her Boys all yelled as they went to her. "Detain him," Midnight ordered, all business as she picked up the mask that had been a mallet. Police appeared and Midnight handed over the mask while her Boys helped carry the gorilla villain to the waiting police van. "This needs to be analyzed immediately," Midnight told the officers, "I don't know if that villain had another Quirk, but when we first arrived on the scene, this mask was a mallet. I haven't seen such technology before, we might encounter more things like this." "Right away!" officers saluted as Crime Technicians took the mask.

Midnight sighed, and then felt something in her corset vibrate. She pulled out her phone and saw that her patrol time was up. Midnight turned to leave as members of the Press snapped pictures and yelled for answers. Midnight turned and held her whip, and then seductively licked her lips. The reporters ate it up, and Midnight was soon surrounded by her Boys as they headed back to her Agency. Once they arrived, Midnight took off her domino mask and went to her locker room to change into her civilian attire, which was flatteringly tight jeans and a warm but snug sweater, with sneakers and regular socks for her feet.

She passed her Boys on the way out and said, "Good job today, Boys. I hope you're ready for next week." "I will miss working for you, Mistress," Ichiro told her. "We all will," Niichiro and Shiro both said, and Sanjuro quietly nodded. Midnight put her hands on all of their shoulders and said, "You were the greatest sidekicks a Hero could ask for. You will all be amazing Heroes."

Nemuri left them then; and headed for a bar that was close by her apartment, Miyata's Mixer. She went in and saw that Aizawa was at the bar, nursing his favorite cocktail, Jack and Ginger. She sat beside him and ordered a Triple Screaming Orgasm. "Long night?" Aizawa asked her. "Something like that," Nemuri said, and told him about the gorilla villain encounter. "I'd heard rumors that some villains were experimenting with new tech, but nothing solid," Aizawa said, "You might have just gotten the first solid lead in the investigation."

Nemuri had a sip of her cocktail, "I'll try to keep on top of it then. However, that's not what I wanted to talk about." Aizawa grunted in a way to show he was still listening. "It's about Joey. Marie and I, we've managed to make a good relationship. I was honestly surprised, but she accepted me as her Mother faster than I thought she would. But Joey…he hasn't said anything to me, but I feel like there's a…distance. Is it because Marie is my biological daughter, and Joey isn't? Have I messed up somehow? I want to try to be the best Mother for both of them that I can be…but something is between me and Joey." Nemuri had another sip as Aizawa thought about it.

"Why ask me?" Aizawa finally asked. "I've seen how Eri-chan is with you," Nemuri explained, "That girl loves you, the only ones who are equal in her heart are Midoriya-kun and Togata-kun for how they saved her. You took a girl who experienced the kind of things that would make anyone doubt that there was any goodness in the human race, who also has quite possibly the most powerful Quirk in the world, and saved her soul, and managed to raise her enough that she could go to a normal school and interact with children her age. Like it or not, you're a miracle maker."

"She didn't have much choice, I was the only one who could watch her, and stop her if necessary. We basically had to cram years of schooling. Thankfully, after being exiled from the world for so long, she was eager to know all about it once she had the chance. She's a sponge for learning. However, it took months to get her there. To get her to trust me. You're on the same boat I was, Kayama, stuck with a child you have barely any connection with. But, unlike Eri-chan, Joey-chan isn't as horribly traumatized, and you've had him for months now. The best advice I can give you is to just talk with him," Aizawa told her. "That's…simple," Nemuri said. "You'll have to listen to him, and if he asks for a change, at least consider it. This is just a guess, but you might be embarrassing him without realizing it," Aizawa then said.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Nemuri challenged. "Just something to consider," Aizawa told her, and then finished his Jack and Ginger. "This one's on me. We'll say you owe me one later," Nemuri said as she paid for his drink and her own. "It's your money," Aizawa said as she finished her drink and they left. Aizawa hailed a taxi and it went to Nemuri's apartment first since it was closer. "Kayama," Aizawa said as she started to get up. "Yes?" she asked. "Last word of advice; be ready to hear things you don't want to hear. I'll pay for the cab. We're even," Aizawa said as he shut the door. Nemuri went up to her apartment and thanked the babysitter, Kaoru was her name, and after seeing that Joey was still asleep, went to get some sleep herself in her room. She'd talk to Joey tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11: Dealing with Bakugou

**Chapter 11: Dealing with Bakugou**

 **Marie**

The day went by uneventfully as far as Marie was concerned. Everything went by as if it was a normal school, until near the end of the school day. The last class for her second day in U.A. was going to be Battle Training. As Class 2-A's door opened, she heard and smelled someone who seemed…skinny. Freakishly skinny, so much that she could hear clothes flap in the wind as if barely hanging on to the body they were on, and this person smelled faintly of blood. "I am here!" a voice that sounded stronger than the person it came from declared, and Marie finally realized who it was: All Might, the Former Number One Hero.

"It's good to see all of Class A's students still here in their Second Year, as well as a new transfer student I see. Today, we will perform a Battle Trial, like last year. Only this time, we won't pair students up," All Might announced. Marie raised her hand, and All Might said, "Aw, young lady, the new student, I'm afraid I haven't gotten your name." "I'm Marie Freeman, All Might-sensei," Marie responded, "How will this test go?" "All in due time, Freeman-shoujo," All Might told her, "For now, get in your costumes, and meet me in Field Beta." Marie heard the walls open, and every one of her classmates picked up suitcases with their costumes. Marie used her heightened sense of smell to find her costume and followed the other girls to the lockers.

As she changed Marie asked, "So, what was last year's Battle Trial like?" Yaoyorozu explained, "Last year, we were all randomly paired up into ten teams. Five teams acted as Villains, while the other five teams acted as Heroes. The Heroes' goal was to capture a weapon from the Villains, while the Villains stopped them. The Battle Trial was for thirty minutes each team. Heroes won if they captured the Villains or the weapon, while Villains won if they stopped the Heroes from getting the weapon in time or captured the Heroes." Marie smiled as she activated her Quirk and put on her costume, "Sounds fun. I hope I get to deal with Bakugou."

The students all headed out to Field Gamma, and Marie could smell that it was a mockup of a city, a very large one judging by the smell. _How much funding does this school get!?_ She wondered, _Rogers and Stark had to get permits to use buildings slated for demolition to train us for urban environments!_ "Now then," All Might said, snapping Marie out of her thoughts, "This Battle Trial will be harder than last years for the following reason: the Heroes will have several disadvantages against them. Since there are now twenty-one students in the class, the Hero Teams will consist of three members, while the Villains will have four members. Also, the Heroes must get the weapon out of the building, completely unharmed. If any damage is done to the weapon, then it is an automatic victory for the Villain Team. And finally, in the final minute, should the Trial last that long, the Villains will be given special detonators they may use to destroy the weapon. However, that is only in the last minute of the Trial, not before."

All the students groaned at this news. She heard Kaminari say, "This is going to be a lot harder than last year, that's for sure." "That's the life of a Hero," Marie said. "How can you be so calm about this!?" Kaminari asked. "South Carolina has a high violent crime rate of 0.39 out of 1000, about ten points higher than the national average in the United State, 0.29 out of 1000. Much higher than Japan's, until recently, low violent crime rate of 0.07 out of 1000. Back home, Heroes are always at a disadvantage, it's just a fact of life," Marie answered him. She sensed he was confused and said, "I had to do a project last year on U.S. Crime Rates compared to another country, and I chose Japan." "Man," Kaminari said, "That sounds…awful." Marie shrugged, "It's not perfect, but it's home."

"Now, for the first Hero Team!" All Might declared. She heard him shuffling his hand in a box filled with balls and pulled one out. "Kaminari-shonen!" Marie heard more shuffling, "Freeman-shoujo!" Marie raised her hand, "Up high partner! Let's get 'em!" "Yeah!" Kaminari said, and high fived her, and then she heard the third member of her team, "Bakugou-shonen!" "WHHHHHAAAAATTTTT!?" Marie screamed, and Bakugou yelled just as loudly, "NNNNAAAANNNNIIII!?" All Might sighed, "I heard from Aizawa that you two did not get along. However, part of being a Hero is working with those you disagree with for the Greater Good. You never know what may happen." Marie huffed, "Fair enough."

"Now, for the Villains," All Might said, and put his hand in another box. "Todoroki-shonen! Asui-shoujo! Yaoyorozu-shoujo! And finally: Satou-shonen! Villains; assume your stations, once there you will have five minutes to form a plan. The rest of us will be watching, I expect great things from you all!" All Might said and led the fourteen students not taking part in this test to the Monitor room, while Tsuyu, Yaoyorozu, Satou, and Todoroki went into the assigned building. Marie turned to Bakugou and said, "If I had a choice, I'd rather shove my entire head up a diarrhea afflicted cow's ass than work with you. But that's the way the dice fell, we're stuck with each other. We might as well do our best." Marie held out her hand, "For now, partners?" Bakugou grasped her hand and shook on it, "For now, partners. But afterwards, I won't go easy on you, got it, Kuroko?"

"Wish you'd stop calling me that," Marie said, "But fine. I know Todoroki controls fire and ice, Satou gets super strong if he eats sugar, Tsuyu's a frog girl, and Yaoyorozu can make anything she wants. Anything I'm missing?" Bakugou spoke up, "Ponytail's a freaking genius, smartest person in the whole class. She'll be the mastermind most likely." "He means Yao-Momo, Yaoyorozu," Kaminari whispered to Marie. "Icy-Hot and Baker Boy are their powerhouses. Icy-Hot can either make a damn firestorm or an iceberg, while Baker Boy gets stronger the more sugar he eats, but when it wears off in like five minutes he's useless. I kicked Icy-Hot's ass at the Sports Festival, but Icy-Hot was holding back on me, unlike when he fought Deku. This time, I'm gonna beat him for real!" "He means Satou and Todoroki," Kaminari translated. "Thanks," Marie said. "And French Cuisine can basically do anything a frog can, plus she can make herself invisible, like some species of frog can use camouflage or some shit like that," Bakugou finished.

"He means-" "I get it now," Marie interrupted Kaminari, "But thanks anyway. So," Marie turned her attention to Bakugou, "I take it that you're pretty good then. I think any one of us can beat Satou, if I use my Ultimate Technique I could probably beat Todoroki, and in a direct fight I can beat Tsuyu or Yaoyorozu. But that's if we want to beat them." "Of course we gotta beat them all! Total victory!" Bakugou declared. "The goal is to get the weapon out of the building unharmed. If things get bad, that's what our focus should be on," Marie objected, and Kaminari said, "She's got a point, Bakugou. That's how you and Iida got beat last year." Bakugou's hands went off like a chain of firecrackers and he ground his teeth together, "Don't remind me. FINE! We need to find the weapon then and get it out. How are we gonna do that?"

"Give me a minute, see if I can smell anything out of the ordinary," Marie said, and walked closer to the building where Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Satou, and Asui were. She took five deep breaths of the air, smelling as much as she could. She smelled her classmates, all of them taking their spots throughout the building. She smelled two on the second floor, Satou and Tsuyu. She smelled Todoroki on the fourth floor, and finally she smelled Yaoyorozu on the fifth. But she couldn't smell anything she could identify as the weapon, since she had no idea what it should smell like. _Well, at least it wasn't a total bust,_ Marie thought to herself as Kaminari and Bakugou walked up to her.

"Couldn't find the weapon, but I'm guessing it's with Yaoyorozu. She's on the fifth floor. Satou and Tsuyu are on the second floor, while Todoroki is on the fourth. Is there any way we could hide from them?" "Not really," Kaminari told her. "Guess we gotta fight then. We divide and conquer. I'll handle Tsuyu and Satou, Bakugou can handle Todoroki, so Kaminari can go after Yaoyorozu and, hopefully, get the weapon out while we distract the others, sound good?" Marie said. "Won't be that easy," Bakugou said, "Ponytail's bound to have made weapons and tools for the other losers, plus she might have traps waiting for us too. Watch your backs in there."

"Right," Kaminari said. "…thanks," Marie mumbled. Bakugou was a better team player than she had expected. Kaminari pulled her aside, "Look, I know Bakugou is…tough to get along with, but he's one of the best students here. And, he's a lot different from last year. Last year, we never would have had that plan made, he'd have just gone on his own. I'm not saying you gotta like him, but you can get along better with him." Marie huffed at this, then a loud blast went out, as All Might announced, "Battle Trial Begin!"

Marie cracked her neck and let Bakugou and Kaminari walk ahead, she followed them, making sure to keep close enough to memorize their scents. The first floor was clear of anything, like Marie had smelled, but as they started for the stairs to the second, Marie heard something. "Wait!" she whispered, stopping Bakugou and Kaminari. "I hear something, be quiet for a minute," Marie whispered, and focused on the sound she heard. It sounded like something was being powered by electricity. "There's something electronic up there. I don't know what it is. Might be a trap. Bakugou, can you use your explosions to get in the second floor from the outside? I don't think they'll expect that," Marie said. "Tch, yeah," Bakugou said, and headed out. Marie and Kaminari went ahead, and at the top of the stairs, Marie felt the heat of a powerful light turn on.

"GAH!" Kaminari yelled as he was temporarily blinded. Marie charged forward and kicked the lamp that was at the top of the stairs, just as Bakugou blasted through a window. "Bakugou! Help Kaminari-san!" Marie yelled as she dodged Tsuyu's tongue. Satou went at Bakugou, and Bakugou blasted another explosion at him, only for Satou to dodge it. Tsuyu tried to snag Marie with her tongue again, and this time Marie grabbed it and pulled as hard as she could. "KERO!" Tsuyu croaked as she was pulled from the ceiling, and Marie kicked her in her stomach hard, driving the air from her lungs, and then heard as Satou landed a punch on Bakugou before he could hit him with another explosion. Marie ran at the two boys and dodged as Satou tried to hit her. His fist hit the floor, cracking the concrete.

Marie grabbed his head before he could try again and pounded her knee into his chin, stunning the larger teen, and allowing Bakugou to finish him with an explosion that knocked him out. Kaminari had recovered by then and was with Tsuyu. "I grabbed some capture tape, we can tie 'em up with it," he said, and tossed the tape to Marie. Marie grabbed it, only for Satou to get up and tackle her before she could tie him up. Marie was pulled into a head lock and Satou held her tight against himself. "Let her go now, Heroes, or your friend gets it." Marie kept her cool, remembering it was just a test, Bakugou smelled like he was going to blast her anyway, but Kaminari was hesitating. Satou was tall, enough to lift her off the ground, and Marie was struggling with her strength to pull his arms off her neck. If she had time she would have pulled him off, but she didn't.

"Sorry, Satou-san. See Recovery Girl after this," Marie said. Satou was holding her tightly against his body, she could feel every rippling muscle on his chest and stomach. Marie reached out with her right arm, and then pulled it back hard as she could, slamming it into his ribs hard enough to break them. Satou let her go immediately, and Marie turned around and turned back into her normal form to land a hard punch into his solar plexus, driving the air further out of him, and letting her tie him up. "Sorry, Satou-san. Couldn't think of anything else to do," Marie apologized again, and then transformed back into her werewolf form before following Bakugou and Kaminari. The temperature was a lot chillier, and Bakugou cursed, "Fucking Icy-Hot covered the floor in ice! Chickenshit's too scared to fight me head on!"

"Are there any traps?" Marie asked Kaminari. He looked around, "None that I can see, but the way to the stairs is blocked with a solid block of ice. "I'll lead the way. Just direct me to the ice blocking the stairs. I'll use my claws to crawl there, Kaminari, grab my tail. Bakugou, hold on to Kaminari," Marie said. "Screw that," Bakugou said, and immediately unleashed an explosion before Marie or Kaminari could stop him. The explosion was large enough to almost knock Marie back, she had to hold on to Kaminari and Bakugou to stop them from falling down the stairs.

"Bakugou!" Marie yelled, and then noticed her voice echoed. "Don't tell me…" Marie said. Kaminari sighed, "He destroyed the floor." Marie let go of Bakugou and said, "Got any more bright ideas, firecracker?" "Bite me, Kuroko!" Bakugou angrily yelled back. "Is there any space at all, so we can climb along the walls?" she asked Kaminari. Kaminari looked, "Yeah, but it'll be tight. And there's no way to get to the stairs." Marie sighed, "Alright guys. Grab me." "What?" Kaminari said. "In this form, I'm ten times stronger. I can easily carry the three of us, as long as you guys hold on to me. I can reach a window and climb from the outside. I just need someone to keep track of which floor we're on," she explained.

"Screw that. I'll blast my way to Icy-Hot," Bakugou said. "Whatever, you do that, me and Kaminari will get the damn weapon," Marie told him, and said, "Kaminari, grab on." "Uh…but…isn't that a little…intimate?" he asked. Marie snorted, "Don't hump my ass or grab my tits, and it won't be. Now hurry up." "A-l-l-l right," Kaminari said, and wrapped his arms around her neck and legs around her waist. Marie felt the small bit of floor near the ground and tested it. It was just enough to hold hers and Kaminari's weight. Marie forced her claws into the wall, and slowly started crawling along the wall.

After five steps, she heard as Bakugou made an explosion, and broke through a window on the opposite side, and then with another explosion flew up to the fourth floor. Marie had to make a dozen more steps; and felt the wall she reached for the window. "Kaminari, blast out the window, make sure there's no glass shards," she told her partner. Kaminari let go of her neck with one arm and her hair stood up as he blasted with window with his electricity, then did it again for good measure. "Got it. Stick to the right side, and you'll be good," he told her.

Marie carefully climbed through the window, using her upper body strength alone to claw her way up. She and Kaminari soon heard the sound of Bakugou and Todoroki fighting, there were rumbles throughout the building. "Shouldn't we help Bakugou?" Kaminari asked as she reached a window on the fourth floor. "Is he getting his ass kicked?" Marie asked him. Kaminari looked in and said, "I'd say they're about dead even." "Then we stick to the mission. We need to finish this before the last minute, or we're screwed," Marie said as she continued to climb. "You're really strong, Marie," Kaminari said as she was halfway between the fourth and fifth floors. "I work out six days a week. Diet heavy on protein, low on carbs and sugar. Even without my Quirk, I could have been an MMA champion back in the Pre-Quirk Era, at least that's what Dad used to tell me," she told him as she reached a window. "Kaminari, what's inside?" she asked him.

Kaminari checked in and said, "I can't see inside. Crap, there's something covering the window inside. It might be rubber." "Blast the window, I'll slice it up with my claws," Marie told him. Kaminari did as she said, and destroyed the window with a blast of electricity, and Marie climbed up higher. "Hang on tight," she told Kaminari as she focused on holding on to the side of the building with her left arm and reached inside the window with her right hand. She felt the rubber covering and focused on tearing through it with her claws. After five slashes, Kaminari said, "That's good. I'll get in, and help you in after I'm in." "Hurry up, this is still pretty tiring," Marie told him as Kaminari managed to climb into the window. She reached out for him to help her in, when suddenly he was pushed out the window!

"YOW!" Kaminari yelled, Marie managed to hold on to him to keep him from falling, but her claws slid down a foot. "Yaoyorozu! What the Hell!?" Kaminari yelled. "Sorry, Kaminari-kun," Yaoyorozu said, "But I am a Villain in this Battle Trial." Kaminari tried to blast her with electricity, but Marie smelled rubber burn, and realized Yaoyorozu had a rubber shield on her. "Now I just gotta wait for time to run out in about…five minutes, or you fall," Yaoyorozu said. "That's a really villainous thing to say," Marie commented as she tried to think of a plan. She thought one up, but it was a desperate gamble. She got ready to toss Kaminari again and took a deep breath.

She tossed him up into the window again, harder than before. Kaminari moved too fast for Yaoyorozu to react, and he managed to tackle her once he was inside. Marie quickly climbed up and grabbed the window's edge, cutting her arms on glass, but got inside in time to feel a massive blast of electricity go off, and then the smell of something burning. "Kaminari?" she asked, only to smell Yaoyorozu swing something at her. Marie ducked under it and tried to kick her, but Yaoyorozu backed away. "I had a trap waiting for him, he's unharmed, but wrapped up in a non-conductive material right now. He overused his electricity, and short circuited his brain," Yaoyorozu said, before Marie then felt a loud whistle that made her head feel like it was about to explode. Marie screamed and fell to her knees.

"Sorry, Freeman-chan," Yaoyorozu said before blowing on the whistle again. Marie struggled to think as the nails-on-a-chalkboard sound of what could only be a dog whistle tore through her ears and into her brain. _Gotta get rid of that damn whistle!_ Was all she could think of, then deactivated her Quirk. Returning to her normal form didn't stop the pain, but it did dull it. Marie acted as if she was still in pain though, only slightly exaggerating. "Stop! Please!" Marie screamed Yaoyorozu stopped blowing the whistle, but only to catch her breath. Marie forced herself to spin around on the ground and kicked out with her right leg, sweeping Yaoyorozu to the ground. The Creation Hero in training fell with a slight scream of surprise, and Marie got on top of her, squeezing her arm until she let go of the dog whistle she made.

Yaoyorozu tried to fight her, but Marie had managed to mount her. The werewolf girl punched down, hitting Yaoyorozu's face hard. Marie let go then and stood up, and Yaoyorozu tried to get up too, but Marie knocked her out with a kick to her stomach, driving the wind out of her. "Sorry Yaoyorozu-san. But I gotta get that weapon fast," Marie said as she searched with her ears. She activated her Quirk one more time and heard something ticking. She found the source of the ticking sound and picked up something that weight about fifty pounds and was as large as a basketball. _I think I'll need help with this…_ Marie found Kaminari and sliced off the material binding him. Kaminari laughed like an idiot the whole time. "Kaminari," Marie told him, and handed him the weapon. "I need you to hold on to this really tight, no matter what."

Kaminari only laughed more but took the weapon. "Heavy," he said. "I know, but you gotta hold on really tight, okay?" Marie told him. "Okay," Kaminari said as Marie lifted him up by the stomach over her left shoulder. "Hold on now, okay?" Marie told the still short circuited Kaminari and he told her, "Okay." Marie went to the window one last time, and climbed down in, this time was going to be really hard. Marie stayed close to the wall outside, and fell several feet, before thrusting out and using her claws to slow hers and Kaminari's descent. _That hurt! Hope I don't have to do this too much,_ she thought as she did this again, five more times. Each fall brought her only a little closer, but she wasn't going to risk it for too long. Right as she thought she had no more strength left, her feet touched the ground and a loud alarm sounded throughout the area. "BATTLE TRIAL OVER! THE HERO TEAM WINS!" All Might loudly announced.

Marie set Kaminari down and sat down. "Woof, that was tough," she said as she returned to her normal form. She heard the sound of a vehicle approaching, and smelled Recovery Girl coming. The aged Support Hero walked over to Marie and examined her. "Well, you're in better condition than Midoriya-kun was in, how does your arm feel?" "Sore, really sore," Marie admitted. She felt Recovery Girl kiss her, "CHU!" and instantly her body felt good as new. She smelled as Todoroki and Yaoyorozu came down, helping Tsuyu and Satou. "I think I broke one, maybe two of Satou's ribs," Marie confessed. Recovery Girl helped the losing Villain Team with their injuries, but only Satou had broken bones. Bakugou came down as well, stomping the whole way. "You stupid gaijin bitch! I almost had that Icy-Hot Bastard right where I wanted him!"

Marie stood up and said, "You know what, you sweaty half-assed over-stuffed firecracker? You can just kiss the darkest part of my bla-" "That's enough," All Might said as he arrived. "I'm afraid that while the Hero Team did succeed, that both Freeman-shoujo and Bakugou-shonen have failed the test," All Might announced. "But it's not my fault!" Marie yelled, "Bakugou's the one that blew up the floor! And he went off on his own, Kaminari-san and I focused on the mission!" All Might sighed, "That is true, but you also left him behind when he needed help." "I didn't need anyone's help!" Bakugou protested. "Those bruises Recovery Girl healed say otherwise," All Might responded to him, "Kaminari-shonen couldn't see it, but after Marie-shoujo and Kaminari-shonen left the fourth floor, the tide turned against you. Had this been a real fight, Todoroki-shonen would have defeated you."

Bakugou clicked his tongue at this but said nothing more. "You should come with me to the Observation Room. Perhaps it will help you," All Might told Marie and Bakugou. Marie did as he said, and new teams were made. Marie silently stood in the Observation Room for the rest of the Battle Tests. The Hero Team composed of Iida, Uraraka, and Toru managed to defeat the Villain Team of Tokoyami, Aoyama, Kirishima, and Ojiro. The last teams were Ashido, Shouji, and Mineta as the Hero Team against Kouda, Jirou, Sero, and Midoriya. The Villain Team managed to win in that challenge with ten minutes still on the clock. It was barely a real fight as Midoriya formed a plan to use Sero's tape to block the windows, after Kouda summoned birds to keep them from going where they weren't supposed to go, and Jirou and Midoriya managed to capture them all. It was frightening to hear how easily Midoriya led his Team to victory so quickly. As the class ended for the day, Marie could only think to herself, _I have to work ten times as hard if I want to keep up with that Midoriya. That guy is something else…_

 **Author's Note: I have no idea what the crime statistics are for the USA or South Carolina in the real world, I was only guessing what it is like in the MHA World based on the fact that the average crime rate is around 20% world wide except for Japan thanks to All Might. I just wrote what sounded right for the US and South Carolina, being a resident and all.**


	12. Chapter 12: A Child's Tears

**Chapter 12: A Child's Tears**

 **Joey**

Midnight didn't have to lead Joey to his Homeroom like last time, though she did give him a goodbye kiss on his head before leaving with the taxi. He sat down next to Eri like his first day, and she said, "Hi, Joey." "Hi, Eri-chan. Um, how was Deku after…" Joey didn't know what to say. Marie's arm was a bloody mess after their fight, yet after Recovery Girl fixed her arm, she wasn't angry at all at Midoriya. He and Eri hadn't talked, what could you say? 'Hey, even though your Hero almost destroyed my sister's arm we can still be friends?' It was awkward to say the least. "Deku-nii-san was really sorry about Marie-nee-chan's arm, but she wasn't angry. Are you angry, Joey?" Eri said. Joey shook his head, "No, but that was awkward, and I didn't know what to say. I like Deku-san, he's nice, and I know Marie likes him too. I think she wants him to be her new boyfriend actually…"

"Oh? Are you sure? I don't think Deku-nii-san likes her like that," Eri said. "I don't know," Joey admitted, "My sister is weird. Her last boyfriend was a snake boy, but she liked making out with him all the time. It was so gross." Eri looked confused, "What's 'making out'?" Joey stopped there and felt himself start to blush. Eri noticed and looked at him even more confused. "Uh…uh…it's when two people kiss a whole lot… and stuff…" Joey managed to say. "Who's making out?" Jougo popped up, his pink eyes wide and mischievous, as did Rukia. The mud girl had a big smile as she said, "Joey-chan, are you corrupting Eri-chan?" "N-no! But uh, something happened with my sister and Deku-san and… they were sparring yesterday, and he accidentally broke my sister's arm," Joey said, Rukia and Jougo were both surprised to hear that. "Is she okay?" Rukia asked. "U.A.'s nurse, Recovery Girl, healed her. When they got back, Marie was smiling, and Deku-san was blushing and babbling. It was weird," Joey managed to quickly explain.

"So your sister and Eri's Deku-nii-san made out?" Rukia said. "No…I don't think so…" Joey said, then his head slid down to his desk, _could this be anymore embarrassing?_ Eri spoke up, "I don't think Deku-nii-san did that," Eri said, "He likes Ochako-nee-chan too much. I think he wants to…make out…with her." "Wait," Rukia then said, "You said, U.A.? As in the Hero Academy U.A.!?" "…yeah," Joey responded. "Your sister is going to be a Hero? That's so cool! No wonder you beat Saito-san so easily!" Jougo said. Joey was saved from anymore talk when Ono-sensei entered the room. The rest of the school day was uneventful for Joey and Eri, aside from the good-natured ribbing of Rukia and Jougo throughout the day. By the end of the school day, Joey was starting to wonder about his sister's intentions himself.

Aizawa-sensei came to pick them both up, and as they took a taxi to U.A. Eri asked the Pro-Hero, "Aizawa-tou-san?" Aizawa looked at her with his tired eyes and she asked him, "Have you ever…made out with someone?" Joey's eyes nearly popped out of his skull, and Aizawa's own tired eyes opened up wide too. "Why do you ask?" he said after looking at Joey and shooting him a look that didn't look happy. Eri explained what had happened yesterday between Marie and Deku while Joey tried his best imitation of a turtle by trying to hide his head in his shirt. After she explained it, Aizawa took a deep breath, "Eri-chan, that is a personal thing between two people, it's not polite to ask about it. It's not polite to talk about people like that or ask someone that isn't a good friend." Eri nodded, "I'm sorry." Aizawa sighed as the taxi reached U.A. and looked at the two children he picked up. "Listen, Eri-chan, Joey-chan. Like I said before, making out is something private between two people. Something two people who love and care for each other do to show their affection for each other. And, it's something you shouldn't worry about yet. You're still too young to do it, understood?"

"Understood!" Joey quickly said. Eri nodded, "I understand." Aizawa nodded, "Now then, let's find Midnight and Marie. Midnight said she wanted to talk to Joey-chan." They walked into the Heights Alliance Dorm, where Ashido Mina and Kirishima Eijirou were both watching a movie. "Ashido, Kirishima, is Freeman in her room?" Aizawa asked. "Not today, Sensei," Kirishima said, "She met some of 2-B and challenged them to spar her at Field Gamma. Cementoss-sensei is watching over them." "Alright," Aizawa said, and left the dorm. Ashido and Kirishima followed and he looked at them. "I wanna see how many butts Marie-chan kicks," Ashido explained. "I wanna go a few rounds if she's still game for it," Kirishima said. "Alright, Kirishima, change into your costume first. You got five minutes, or I'm leaving you behind," Aizawa said. Kirishima ran back into the dorm, and Aizawa spotted a coffee maker in the kitchen.

He made himself a cup and chugged it down so fast that Joey almost didn't believe it. Soon Kirishima came back to the living room of the dorm dressed in his Hero costume. "Alright, let's go!" Kirishima yelled. The group followed Aizawa to Field Gamma and headed inside. A large man who appeared to be carved from cement was there, watching as Marie sparred a girl with silver hair and dressed like a ninja. To the side were four students, three of whom looked tired and ragged, Marie had obviously defeated them, and one who looked like a large wolf-man wearing a blue visor and pants and nothing else.

Joey returned his attention to Marie; Marie dodged cement blocks that the silver-haired girl was sending her way and ran at her opponent. The silver-haired girl attempted to kick her, but Marie caught her ankle and swept her down before putting her foot on the silver-haired girl's neck. "I yield," the silver-haired girl said. Marie let her go and helped her opponent up. "That wasn't too bad, Reiko," one of the defeated students, a blonde boy wearing what looked like a tuxedo said, "It isn't your fault that that gaijin is a brutal beast." Marie deactivated her Quirk and turned to the blonde boy then said, "Hey, Monoma, want me to kick your ass again, even harder this time? I could have knocked you out before you copied my Quirk, but I was being nice enough to give you a chance to take me on." The blonde boy laughed haughtily, "As expected of the uncouth Class A! You and Bakugou make quite a pair! I-" the blonde boy was stopped by a quick chop to the back of his neck by a red-haired girl wearing a blue cheongsam and black domino mask.

"Sorry he's a pain," the red-haired girl told Marie. "It's cool, Kendou-san," Marie responded. "I guess that leaves one person left," Marie then said as the wolf-man stepped up to her. "I hope we have a good match, Lady Freeman," the wolf-man said in Japanese as he extended his hand to her. Marie smiled, and shook it, "Don't hold back, Shishida-san." Shishida nodded, "As you wish." Marie and Shishida stepped away from each other, and Marie reactivated her Quirk. Cementoss looked at them both and declared, "Begin!"

Marie ran at Shishida at full speed, only for Shishida to suddenly let loose a loud roar before he grew! He was at least twice his normal size and swiped at Marie with a claw nearly as big as her! Marie jumped up and avoided the claw, only for Shishida to jump up and attack her from below. Marie quickly kicked him in his face with both her feet before grabbing on to Shishida's face and kneeing his chin. Shishida pulled her off of him like it was nothing and landed on the ground, holding her and letting her take the full force of the fall, plus his bodyweight. "MARIE!" Joey screamed. Dust cleared and Marie was still pinned down under the claw. She was bleeding from her head and coughed up some blood. "Don't stop the fight!" Marie yelled, "I can still fight." Marie then addressed Shishida, "Nice to know I'm not the only one who can transform. I just hope you're ready for my Ultimate Technique!"

"Uh oh," Joey said. "What's wrong?" Kirishima. "Marie's Quirk is called 'Lycanthrope'. That's because when she first got it, she had multiple forms that she would turn into at random, from the one she uses in fights, to a full-on wolf, and everything in between," Joey explained, as Marie started to growl. "She trained for years to control it, and then found a new way to change, to make up her own transformation," he said, "One even stronger than this one! But the catch is that she can't talk when she does it, and it doesn't last more than two minutes. Afterwards, she passes out!"

Everyone watched as Marie's eyes glowed blue and her muscles grew! Her nose and mouth jutted forward from her head and combined into a snout, while her arms and legs grew several more inches Marie then moved and pushed herself up as Shishida tried to keep her down, only for her to stand up, grab his arm, and throw him over her shoulder. Marie was now at least six inches taller with sixty more pounds of muscle on her already powerful body. Her head now looked exactly like a wolf's. She unleashed a howl that echoed throughout the building before getting on all fours and facing Shishida once more. Shishida roared in challenge, and the two of them clashed once more.

Shishida grabbed her with both arms, but Marie was faster now and grabbed his wrists enough to stop him. The two of them struggled against each other, their muscles bulging with effort, but their strength was now equal to each other's. "Shishida! Hang in there!" the red-headed girl cheered on her classmate. "Come on Marie!" Kirishima and Ashido both cheered, "You can do it!" Marie howled in response, and then fell back, pulling Shishida off balance and opening him up for a punishing double leg kick right in his stomach. Shishida howled in pain and fell on his back, but before Marie could take advantage of his position, he stood back up and caught her arm as she tried to use her claws. Shishida lifted her up before she could get free and pounded her into the ground hard enough to leave her in a small crater. He let go of her and tried to smash his large fists into her, but Marie rolled out of his way just in time.

She tackled him to the ground, and everyone could only watch as the two of them struggled and grappled against each other, neither one managing to keep the other in a hold or lock. Marie's body started to steam up and Joey yelled, "Marie! You're pushing too hard!" Marie ignored him as she continued to grapple with Shishida, the other Hero in Training struggling to keep up with Marie. Suddenly, both of them stopped, and returned to their original forms. They fell down, Marie on top of Shishida across his large chest. Cementoss and Aizawa ran to the two and helped them up. Both were breathing hard, but Marie was still conscious. "Huh," she said, "I guess I'm getting stronger." She turned her attention to Shishida, "Hey, Shishida? You have any plans this weekend?"

"No," Shishida responded after catching his breath. "Are we allowed off-campus?" Marie asked Aizawa. "If you're accompanied by a teacher, yes," Aizawa responded. Marie took a few breaths, "Think you could take me around town then on Sunday? Say…ten o'clock?" Shishida blushed through his fur, "You mean, like a date?" Marie smiled, "If you want to call it that." Shishida blushed again even more before saying, "I would be delighted, Lady Freeman." "See you Sunday then," Marie said, and was helped by Aizawa back to the dorms with everyone else following behind them.

"That was awesome Marie!" Kirishima yelled, "So manly! You beat all of them!" Marie shook her head, "Not really. Shishida was something else. Damn it, I don't know how to train, I need more power, but I can't do it at the expense of my stamina and speed. I can maybe put on eight more pounds of muscle, but that's it." Ashido laughed, "Who cares? You got a date, girl! So, what are you gonna wear?" "No idea," Marie said as they reached the dorms, "Maybe you and the other girls can help me pick. I got a few dresses, and some other sexy clothes to wear." They turned a corner and almost ran into Midnight, "Oh, did I hear that you're going on a date?" Ashido nodded, "Yep, with Shishida of 2-B." "Oh," Midnight said with a smile, "Need an escort?" "Not now, Midnight," Aizawa declared, "First, she needs to see Recovery Girl. She barely managed a draw in a sparring match with Shishida, and she coughed up blood during it. After she's healed, you can talk."

"Oh my!" Midnight said, genuinely surprised, and she quickly checked Marie. "I only see a gash on your head," Midnight said, then felt Marie's ribs. "GAH!" Marie quickly yelled in pain. "Oh no! Aizawa! Why didn't you tell me sooner!" Midnight yelled as she then picked up Marie bridal style and started running, a lot faster than you'd think someone in her heels could, straight for the nurse's station. "Um…okay…" Kirishima said, "That was unexpected." "Don't you know?" Ashido said, "Didn't I tell you that Marie is Midnight-sensei's adopted daughter?" "WHAT!? NO! I WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Kirishima yelled, then looked at Joey, "Does that mean Midnight-sensei is your Mom too!?" Joey looked at the sharp-toothed teen and meekly said, "…kind of..." "I really forgot to tell you?" Ashido said.

"Yeah," Kirishima told her, then changed the subject, "Did you see how fast she was running though?! And while carrying someone too! Midnight-sensei is manlier than I thought!" Aizawa took Eri then and lifted her up, "I'm going to take Eri home and make her dinner. Kirishima-kun, Ashido-chan, watch Joey-chan until Midnight gets back." "Roger, Sensei!" Ashido and Kirishima both said. "Bye Eri-chan," Joey waved his friend goodbye. "See you tomorrow, Joey-chan," Eri waved back as Aizawa took her home. "So then," Ashido said as she looked at Joey with a smile, "What would you like to do, Joey-chan? We got some games we can play, we can break into Tokoyami's room, watch TV, anything you want, kiddo." Joey's stomach rumbled then, "Can we get something to eat?"

"Alright," Ashido said, "I think we got some snacks, and if we don't then I'm sure Satou-kun wouldn't mind making something." The three of them headed into the dorm rooms and Joey saw they had some peaches in the kitchen. He grabbed two of them and started eating while Kirishima turned on the TV and started checking the guide. Joey looked and saw that there was one movie on the Classics Channel just starting, his Dad's favorite movie. "Stop! I wanna watch that!" Joey yelled, louder than he meant to. "Okay," Kirishima said, and turned the channel to the Classics Channel. The theme music was playing, he had only missed a few minutes.

"Black and White? Sheesh, this is ancient," Ashido said as she started making some popcorn. "It is," Joey admitted, "It was made in the Pre-Quirk Era. It's a classic Western movie, High Noon." The popcorn finished popping and Ashido poured a bowl, letting Kirishima have some after sitting down next to him. The conflict was established in the movie when other members of Class 2-A came in. They all decided not to interrupt, so they went about their business as respectfully quiet as possible, some even sitting down either on the couch or in front of it to watch the movie. Luckily, the Classics Channel had subtitles in Japanese for those that didn't speak English, and halfway through the movie nearly everyone was watching it, except for Bakugou, who angrily went to his room instead, and Marie, who hadn't come back yet.

The movie finally ended and Kirishima quietly said, "That was a good movie Joey-cha- why are you crying?" "Huh?" Joey said, and then felt his cheeks, tears were pouring down them. Joey sniffed and Ashido pulled him into a hug, "It's okay, Joey." The boy remembered the good times, once a month when his Dad would sit the family down and they'd have a movie night together, him, Marie, Mom and Dad. "On Movie Night," Joey started to say after Ashido let him go, "Dad always picked that movie. Marie, Mom, and I would always choose different movies, but Dad always picked High Noon. I asked him why, and he told me, 'Joey, being a Hero is a really hard job. There are times I'm afraid that I could die, or someone I'm trying to help could get hurt. When I feel like that, I remember Marshal Will Kane. He was afraid of Frank Miller and his bandits. But he didn't run away. Even when he was by himself, because it was the right thing to do, it's his responsibility as the Town Marshal. Some people think that being a Hero is about fame, or money, but it's not. A lot of Heroes think that way, but the truth is, being a Hero is about doing the right thing, no matter what. Because that's my responsibility as a Hero.'"

Joey started crying again at the memory. Nothing would be the same for him again.

Like a dam that finally burst he cried, for his parents whom he saw murdered in front of him, for the life he could never have back. Here he was, thousands of miles from his friends and his home, having to learn a new language that he could just barely speak. Almost everyone he knew was an adult or teenager. He never felt so alone before.

Marie and Midnight finally arrived at the dorm. "Joey! What's wrong?" Marie said as she ran to her brother. She hugged him close and Joey hugged her back. "What happened?" Midnight asked, in a tone of voice that sent chills down the teenagers' spines. "I don't know!" Kirishima quickly said, "I was just flipping through the guide, and Joey said he wanted to watch an old cowboy movie, so I turned it to that! Then we saw he was crying when it was over, and he was crying, and he started talking about his Dad, and then this happened!" Marie spoke up then, "It was 'High Noon', wasn't it?" Marie asked. "I think so," Kirishima said.

"Mom, they didn't do anything. Joey needs to go back to your house, and I'm going with him," Marie said to Midnight. Midnight nodded, "I'll speak to the Principal and explain things to him. And I'll call a cab to take us home." Marie held Joey as the other students of 2-A made room for her and Joey as she spoke to him in English, "Joey. I'm here now. Everything will be alright."

 **Marie**

Joey didn't say anything in the time Marie held him. Only held on to her tightly as she held him close and tried her best to comfort him. _I'm such an idiot,_ she thought to herself. _Just because I was doing alright, doesn't mean Joey is. I'm such an idiot._ Eventually he stopped crying, and she could tell that he had fallen asleep. "Is he gonna be okay?" Uraraka asked. "These last few months were difficult for both of us," Marie said, "But Joey held on, strong. I thought he was alright, but I guess he just kept his real emotions bottled up. And then, I guess he couldn't do that anymore. I'll try to talk to him tomorrow. Thanks for watching him, guys." Everyone nodded, and Iida said, "I'm just sorry that we couldn't do more to help, as Heroes, we should know when someone needs help, especially children."

Marie heard as her Mom came back and she said, "The cab should be here soon. Kirishima-kun, Ashido-chan, thank you for watching Joey-chan for me." "Anytime," Ashido said. "Hope he feels better tomorrow," Kirishima said. Marie and Midnight left the dorms and got into a cab. They were silent as they headed for Midnight's apartment.

Once they were inside, Marie tucked Joey into bed and sat down in the Living Room. "I'm a terrible mother," Midnight said as she placed her domino mask on the counter, "I should have seen the warning signs. I was just so caught up in making sure you kids were ready for school and everything that I wasn't paying close enough attention to Joey-chan." Marie shook her head, "Mom, it's partially my fault too. We never talked about it. I didn't make time for him. I should have realized this would happen. The fact is Mom, Joey still doesn't see you as his Mom. You're still a stranger to him. He's never really had time to talk to you. And I never stopped to let him talk to me either, just give him someone who will listen to him. If you're a terrible mother, then I'm a shitty big sister."

Midnight sat beside Marie, "I'll have to talk with my Agency then, see if I have at least one day to spend with him. Marie, you know I want to be there for him, don't you?" Marie smiled, "You didn't say you'd be a perfect Mother, but you'd do the best you could. Mom, not much more you can do now, but that plan sounded good to me." "Thank you, Marie," Midnight said as she pulled her into a hug, "I just wish, I could have spent more time in your life." Marie had to stop herself from crying as she said, "Better late than never."


	13. Chapter 13: Family and an Enemy

**Chapter 13: Family and an Enemy**

 **Marie**

She awoke in Joey's room in her Mother's apartment. Marie could hear that Joey was still asleep from his breathing, and slowly, carefully, left his side. She felt her way to a wall, and from there to the door to the living room. Her Mother was already awake, cooking chocolate chip pancakes and coffee was already dripping into a pot. "Good morning," her Mother greeted her. "Morning, Mom," Marie said before starting to stretch out. "What time is it?" Marie asked as she stretched. "Early, about 5:09," her Mother answered. Marie went about her morning stretching routine, focusing on it kept her from thinking about Joey for a little while. After she finished stretching, Marie stood up and sighed before making her way to a chair at the small table her Mother had to eat at. "What are we going to do?" she asked her.

Her Mother put a plate with pancakes and syrup down before saying, "I won't be able to go out with Joey until Sunday, three days from now. I'll try to talk to him, but my schedule…it's full of work." Marie nodded as she put syrup on her pancakes. "I'll try to talk to him then when I can. Recovery Girl forbade me from sparring for a month, I'll have time for Joey…God that sounds terrible out loud," Marie said before eating. "It's the life of a Hero," her Mother explained as she poured a cup of coffee for herself. Marie nodded, her Father always used what time he could get off to spend with his family, to make the most of it. However, to be a part of a Hero Family meant that your time with your loved ones was always limited.

Marie continued eating silently for a while as she wondered what she could say to her little brother. If she had to, she could reschedule her planned date with Shishida. He seemed like a reasonable student, like he would understand putting her brother's needs first. After she finished eating, Marie asked, "Can we change my living arrangements? Make it to where I can stay with Joey?" Her Mother tapped her fingers on the counter several times before answering, "I'm not sure. The dorms were erected for the protection of U.A.'s students, and my apartment isn't much safer than any other apartment on the block. The only real protection it offers from Villains is that the addresses for Heroes isn't public knowledge, and the government keeps that information sealed up tightly. I don't think the Principal will allow it."

"Can't you do anything? I mean, you're a teacher after all," Marie said. She felt her Mother's eyes on her then before she heard an edge in her voice, "If word got out that a teacher used her position to help her child, the scandal would ruin the school's reputation. Marie, you don't know this, but U.A. has been on a tightrope since last year, first when the League of Villains attacked the USJ building in an attempt to assassinate All Might, and again when they attacked our Summer School. Bakugou-kun was kidnapped during the second attack, and several students were injured and even poisoned, some of them may never fully recover. You may not have known this, because you were living in America at the time, so I will forgive you. But, U.A. cannot afford another hit to its reputation. Do not. Ever. Suggest such nepotism. Again. Do you understand me?"

Marie swallowed nervously and saw that her Mother's persona as 'The Eighteen Plus Hero' was more fact than act. She had a will that was unbreakable. "Yes Mother," Marie quietly said. Her Mother sighed as she finished her coffee, "While we're on the subject of school, I've been hearing about your fights with Bakugou from Aizawa-san. You need to be more careful." Marie snorted at that, "Why, because he was kidnapped? I don't care what his excuse is, the guy's an asshole. Asking me to be nice to him is like asking a cactus not to be so prickly: it ain't happening."

"He was improving," her Mother said, "Starting to become less angry, relating more to his classmates. But it seems that your attitude is making him…regress." Marie snorted, "He's a bully, and I'm not backing down. I don't care how good his Quirk is, his attitude sucks." The Eighteen Plus Hero sighed at this, "Then be above his level. That's what everyone else did. I think that's why he's so angry with you, you're the first person to ever go that low with him. You two are almost like peas in a pod." Marie nearly choked at that comparison. "You're both aggressive and cuss a blue streak when you're angry. You're both proud of your abilities and worked hard to master them, and neither of you backs down from a challenge," Midnight summed up their similarities. Marie ground her teeth for a second but couldn't think of a way to argue and win, her Mother's assessment was spot on when she thought about it. And it REALLY pissed her off knowing that.

It was around that time that Joey woke up. "Morning Joey," Marie greeted him. "Good morning, Joey," Midnight greeted him, in English. "…morning," Joey bashfully said. "Joey, wait," Midnight said as she walked to him. "I know what happened yesterday," she started, "I know how hard things have been for you. I didn't take a lot of things into consideration; I should have tried to help you more. You've been holding things in for so long, you've been so strong. But you aren't in this alone. You can talk to me if you want to, both of you." Joey didn't answer, and Marie could hear her Mother's sadness in her voice, "Joey, please talk to me. I know I haven't been the perfect mother, but I still want to try to be the one you deserve."

So quietly that only Marie heard him, Joey whispered, "You're not my Mom." Midnight only said, "Joey, please speak up." Joey then said so loudly Marie was sure that people in other apartments heard him, Joey screamed, "YOU'RE NOT MY MOM! YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE MARIE'S MOM! I'M ONLY HERE BECAUSE SHE IS! IF SHE WASN'T YOUR DAUGHTER, YOU'D NEVER EVEN WANT ME!" "Joey!" Marie yelled, only for the boy to quickly run back into his room before either of them could stop him.

Midnight remained silent as she stood back up and started to go to his door. "Hold on, Mom," Marie quickly said, "Let me talk to him." Her Mother took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, "Very well. I'll…get ready for the day." Marie went to Joey's door and knocked on it. She heard him whimper on the other side before she said, "Joey. Can I come in?" She stood and waited at his door, losing track of time because every second felt like an hour. Eventually she heard the door unlock and she went in. She heard her little brother sniffling in a corner and went to him, hugging him.

"I don't wanna go," he said as he hugged her back, she felt his tears on her shirt. "You won't have to go," Marie told him. "She doesn't want me. She hates me now. She doesn't need me," Joey sobbed. Marie's voice was full of steel a she said, "That won't happen. I promise that she doesn't hate you." Joey sobbed, "She's not my Mom, she's yours." Marie felt herself crying at that, "Do you really think that I didn't love Mom? That she didn't love me?" Joey was quiet for a while before Marie said, "Mom was in the same boat as Nemuri. I wasn't her child, she was going to marry Dad, but I was an add-on. But it never mattered to her. She always treated me like I was hers. Did Nemuri ever treat you badly?" After a minute Joey answered, "…no. But she's never there, not like Mom was always there for me."

Marie took a breath before saying, "Think about what's been going on. Nemuri has two jobs, and never had kids before. She's not even married. Mom had Dad, Nemuri…has no one like him. She had to focus on making sure that we were taken care of, that we had tutors to help us adjust, finding a school for you, getting me into U.A., getting us moved in, plus getting lessons planned for her class and being a Pro-Hero, I'm amazed she hasn't passed out from all that work. It's not that she doesn't want to be with you, she doesn't have time. She's trying, hard, she really is. She's managed to plan to spend Sunday with you. I promise that she does care about you. Just give her a chance, okay?"

Joey let go of Marie, and she wiped the tears from her brother's face. "Okay," he said. "Come on then," Marie said, "You need to hurry and eat breakfast, so we aren't late for school." Marie and Joey went out, Midnight was waiting outside. Joey told her, "I'm sorry." Midnight replied in English, "Joey, I know things have been difficult for you. I'm proud of how you've handled everything so far. I promise that I'm going to try harder to be the Mom you deserve. Just be patient with me, I'm still new to this whole thing." "Okay," Joey told her. Joey sat down with Midnight to get breakfast, while Marie went to get ready.

They all went into the taxi after getting ready, and Midnight promised extra if the driver could get them to their destinations quickly. As they got to U.A. Marie made sure to give her brother a hug before heading to the school. She made her way to Class 2-A, where the rest of the class was already. She felt everyone's eyes on her as she sat down at her desk. "Hey, Marie-chan," Tsuyu asked, "Is everything alright with Joey?" "I think he'll be okay now," Marie answered, "We talked, and he had some things he had to let off his chest is all. He should be okay now, if I'm lucky." Marie crossed her fingers for good luck as she said this. Aizawa entered the classroom, and the day started as usual.

 **Pyromaniac**

 ** _Oahu, Hawaii, USA_**

The small TV in the hotel had the News on. The cute Latina reporter with purple hair reported, "After two months of searching, authorities are still on the lookout for the villain known as Pyromaniac, aka Donovan Takahashi. He is wanted for a dozen bank robberies, fifty counts of arson, twenty counts of murder including the murder of the Hero Wolfheart, Joseph Jerome Freeman Sr, and his wife Mysa Freeman. The public is advised that if you see him to contact the police or the nearest Hero immediately and are warned not to confront him." The TV showed an old picture of Donovan, from before Wolfheart had torn out his left eye. His caramel skin he inherited from his mother was contrasted by his fiery red hair and slanted eyes he inherited from his father.

Pyromaniac touched his false eye, it was colored green with black sclera, and he had to wear a green contact with black sclera to change his appearance. He was struggling to keep his Fire under control. There were so many things he wanted to see burn. To see them beautifully consumed by the flames, to return humans to the ashes they came from… He gritted his teeth as sparks started to flicker in his hands. He took a deep breath before the fire went out. The Feds and Heroes were serious now, he couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. After murdering a Hero, the unofficial response among other Heroes was always 'Search and Destroy'. He had been hiding, suppressing his Fire, for two months as he made his way across the U.S. until he finally made it to Hawaii. He had barely any cash left now, he had to get out of the country if he was going to have a chance. But he needed cash to get to another country.

Japan was a likely place to hide in, villain groups were exploding there, one more villain wouldn't be noticed too much.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed through the window of the hotel. "PYROMANIAC! THIS IS THE FBI! THE BUILDING IS SURROUNDED!" He noticed the sound of helicopters in the air and quickly rolled to the floor. "Shit," he cursed. He was on the fourth floor, there were bound to be at least three Heroes there, standard protocol for Hero Killers like him. He had to do something they wouldn't suspect. And fast. He crawled towards the window and took a peek outside for five seconds. He spotted a helicopter, five SWAT Teams, with what looked like one more arriving. He didn't see any Heroes, which meant they were on the way inside. Pyromaniac smiled; his Fire was finally going to be unleashed.

Most people dismissed him as a petty thug before, and he was. But losing his eye to Wolfheart had forced him to train, to learn, to become better. He thought more, that was how he managed to kill him and escape, to stay free for these last few months. He wasn't going down now. Pyromaniac focused his Fire in his right finger, like a blowtorch, and quickly cut a circle on his floor and stomped down hard. He was a large man, 6' 6", and was 248 pounds of muscle, easily breaking through the floor, and the one below. He was on the second floor then.

The Villain looked at the hole he had made and saw a Hero looking down it. He smiled as he unleashed his Fire straight up into his face. The Fire hit the Hero before he could do anything, and he screamed as his head was lit up. Ecstasy filled Pyromaniac as his fire burned around his body, burning his clothes to nothing as he jumped out the second story window.

He unleashed flames from his hands thirty feet all around as he fell, obscuring the vision of the SWAT officers, and burning twelve of them to death. The feeling of ecstasy grew as officers ran and rolled to put out the fires on themselves, and he summoned a fireball, and threw it the helicopter. He hit the main rotor and watched as the helicopter screamed down to the ground, killing five more SWAT officers and another Hero as it exploded once it hit the ground, sending shrapnel flying everywhere.

Pyromaniac laughed as he ran towards the SWAT van that had been approaching, it had stopped. He opened the back door and blasted the officers inside at once, instantly turning the inside of the van into a crematorium. He then ran to the front as other SWAT teams tried to shoot, but the side of the van was between him and their bullets. He punched threw the front window and grabbed the drivers throat, burning it black and choking him before opening the door from inside. He pulled the dying driver out of the vehicle and instantly got the van running, turning it to the other officers.

The standard SWAT van was practically a tank as far as armor went, and he laughed as he ran down officers, their bullets bouncing off the armor of one of their own vehicles. He drove the van around the hotel twice, hitting any police he saw, before suddenly, a massive ice stalactite crashed through the windshield.

Pyromaniac barely dodged it, and quickly rolled out of the SWAT van, letting it roll. He saw as it was encased in ice, before stopping in front of one of the Heroes that had been sent to take him down. She was about 5' 7", with pure white hair and skin. Her lips were thick and blue, she reminded him of some movie stars he had seen in the looks department and was wearing a skin-tight blue jumpsuit with a white stripe running down the middle with ice skates on her feet. She glared at him with large icy blue eyes that were only a few shades darker than pure white as she said, "You'll pay for everything you've done, murderer!"

Pyromaniac smiled; his money problem was solved. During his training he had studied other Fire Quirk users and their techniques, he knew one Japanese Hero in particular who he had been mimicking. The Icy Heroine slammed her right foot on the ground, freezing the ground around them, only for him to jump up, and then focus his Fire to blast out of his back like a rocket. He was so fast that she didn't know how to respond before he flew at her and landed a hard kick to her stomach, sending her flying for ten feet before she hit one of the SWAT vans. "Shit," Pyromaniac said as he looked and saw a SWAT officer that was only killed by shrapnel from the helicopter he felled. He grabbed a pair of Quirk nullifying cuffs from him and went to the Hero. She was still breathing, but she had hit her head. She was struggling to get up to keep fighting.

Pyromaniac cuffed her and then lifted her up, knocking her out with a punch to her solar plexus. He then threw her into the van and closed it before getting in himself. There were some people that would pay top dollar for a captured Hero, especially a pretty one like her. After he got the cash, the next stop was Japan. This was a good day for him, and he was all smiles as he drove the SWAT van through traffic, lights and siren blazing to get people out of the way.

 **Author's Note: Should I change the rating after this chapter? Let me know in the reviews. Sorry it took so long to get this out, life's been crazy.**


	14. Chapter 14: Marie's Date

**Chapter 14: Marie's Date**

 **Marie**

The days passed quickly and quietly after Marie and Midnight had spoken with Joey. Because she was banned from sparring, Marie spent more time working on her cardio, and when Aizawa or Midnight brought Joey to U.A. Marie always made time for him. They would play board games, or video games, or watch movies after he did his homework, sometimes just the two of them, sometimes with Eri, sometimes with a few of her classmates. She and Shishida finalized plans for their date, he would basically take her to a movie and then lunch, and some window shopping for a few hours before returning back to U.A. To supervise them, Class 2-B's Homeroom Teacher, Vlad King, was coming with them. As for clothes, they both agreed it would be casual wear to keep things simple. Finally, Sunday arrived.

Marie woke up in her dorm room and started stretching as soon as she was on her feet. _Let's see: this is my cheat day for my diet, and rest day for the week. Sweet. Mom and Joey are going on a date as well to bond. Hope that goes well. Movie, lunch, window shopping, then do whatever the rest of the day. Nice._ She thought to herself as she stretched. After she finished stretching, she took her cane and made her way to the dorm's kitchen.

She smelled something good baking and as she got to the kitchen realized it was simple pancakes. "Hello, Satou-san," Marie greeted, who else could bake something so wonderful smelling? "Good morning, Freeman-san. I decided to make some pancakes, already made a batch. Just get a plate when you want," Satou told her. "Thank you," Marie said as she found a plate and put four pancakes on it. She had gotten familiar with the kitchen, and soon grabbed a knife and fork and syrup and took a seat at a table to eat. Within a few minutes the rest of Class 2-A came down and started eating, thanking Satou for making their breakfast.

Ashido and Uraraka sat with Marie as they ate, and Ashido said, "So, you're going on your date today. What made you think Shishida was the one?" Marie replied, "I don't think he is 'The One'. I just think he'd be a nice guy to date is all." "Seriously!?" Uraraka said in surprise. "What?" Marie asked, "I barely know him. Granted, while we sparred, I saw he was a big, strong man, and he's got some nice manners, but aside from that I don't know much about him. I just think it'd be nice to go on a date, go out on the town, and just…I don't know, relax." Ashido said, "Huh. I heard that folks were more casual in America, but I didn't think they were that casual."

"Hey, I never lied or anything, it's just a date. Not like I offered to have his babies or anything," Marie retorted. "Does he know that?" Uraraka asked. Marie took a breath and smelled the pheromones that indicated embarrassment coming off the gravity controlling girl strongly. She shrugged as she finished her pancakes, "I don't know, but I'll let him know after the date." The other two girls were silent as Marie got a glass of milk and sat back down. "You know, I can use some help to pick out my outfit at least," she said, "Something that's sexy but not slutty. Think you and the other girls can help?" Ashido happily said, "Oh definitely! This is gonna be fun!" Uraraka agreed, "Yeah, it's actually a pretty warm day today, what kind of shoes do you have?"

"I don't have much, those nice leather shoes for class, sneakers for exercising, sneakers for casual use, martial arts shoes for my costume, sandals for when it's warm…and I think I still have a pair of open toed heels," Marie said. "Alright, let's go make you look hot!" Ashido happily said as the three of them got up, getting the other girls of Class 2-A to come along.

When they were all in Marie's room, the girls immediately raided her closet, with her permission. "Sexy, but casual, not slutty," Toru said as she looked. "You have a lot of black and red outfits, Freeman-chan," Yaoyorozu commented. "Yeah, if my black clothes get dirty it won't show. I like red because it goes with my skin really well," Marie said. "Oooh, these open toed heels look nice, you should definitely wear them. Plus, they're not as fancy as I thought, just enough casual," Ashido said. "Alright," Marie said as she took her shoes from the acid heroine.

"This sleeveless blouse is nice," Tsuyu said. "Is it the red one or the white one?" Marie asked. "Red," Tsuyu said. "I'll take it," Marie said and Tsuyu handed it to her. "Now, I know what'll look good, I have a blue miniskirt that'll go great with all this," Marie said. "Got it," Uraraka said as she pulled the skirt out and handed it to Marie. Marie went to her dresser and quickly put on some underwear and a sports bra, then got dressed in the clothes her friends had helped her pick out.

Once she was fully dressed, Marie turned around and said, "So, how do I look?" Ashido whistled and Toru said, "Yes! You can bag any guy looking like that!" Yaoyorozu chimed in, "Very nice. But I wish we had some jewelry to complete the look." Marie shrugged, "Sorry, but I never wear jewelry. My Quirk changes my body so much that it would ruin it, or even hurt me while I transform." Tsuyu said, "That makes sense. Still, I think a little makeup would be nice." There were a few knocks on Marie's door and Uraraka answered. "Oh, hi Midnight-sensei," she said. "Pardon the intrusion, I heard that you were getting ready for your date, Marie. Do you want me to help you?" Marie's Mother asked her. "Sure," Marie agreed.

Midnight came in and looked at her, "You look amazing dear. Just need a little bit of makeup around the eyes and some lipstick, and you'll be perfect!" Marie nodded, "Thanks, Mom. Can you help me get my makeup on?" Midnight gave her a little hug, Marie felt that she was wearing a casual business suit, "Of course." Marie heard her Mother dig through her purse, "A little crimson lipstick, perfect for every girl." Marie let her apply the lipstick and said, "I think I have some blue eyeshadow to go with my skirt." "Perfect, where'd you put it?" her Mother asked. "Should be under my bed, give me a minute," Marie said, and felt under her bed for her own makeup bag. She pulled it out and gave it to Midnight, who found the eyeshadow. Midnight carefully applied it to Marie's eyes and stepped back.

"Wow… a little really does go a long way," Uraraka said when she saw her. All the other girls made agreeing noises and Marie felt herself starting to blush, "You really think so?" Jirou answered, "I think just about every straight guy in the school would drool over you if they saw you like this." Marie felt herself starting to tear up; but managed to close her eyes to stop herself from ruining her eyeshadow. It had been months since she had felt…truly beautiful. Ever since Pyromaniac had blinded her, she had felt in the back of her head that nagging doubt about herself, about if she could truly live a normal life like she had had before.

"Thank you…so much," Marie said to everyone in her room. Midnight gave Marie her purse and cane, and helped her out, leading the way as they headed out of the dorms. "Marie, are you having second thoughts about this?" Midnight quietly asked her as they walked. "Just nervous…it's been a while since I had a date, plus it's in a different city, and I can't see anything. It's a lot different," Marie explained. "Just remember this: You are a strong, confident woman. You are fierce, fearsome, and free. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Midnight whispered to her. "Fierce, fearsome, free," Marie whispered to herself. Midnight continued, "Shishida is a gentleman as well from a good family. If you're worried about how he'll treat you, I don't think you have to be. And if it's your looks that worry you, then get a strong whiff of the air."

Marie realized they were in the lounge area of the dorms, and about half the boys in Class 2-A were present. She felt all eyes on her for a minute, and then smelled the air. All but one of the boys present were releasing lustful pheromones into the air. Then Mineta screamed loudly, "YAAAAHHHOOOOO! MY EBONY BEAUTY REVEALS HERSELF!" "MINETA-KUN! DO NOT OBJECTIFY OUR CLASSMATES!" Iida immediately yelled in response. "He's just saying what we're all thinking man!" Kaminari said in Mineta's defense, Kaminari then said, "You look amazing, Freeman-chan!"

"Thank you," Marie said, and hoped that she gave a slightly flirty wink in Kaminari's direction. Marie continued on her own outside the dorms and headed to the front of U.A. She soon smelled a man that smelled of blood and remembered Aizawa-sensei telling her that Vlad King-sensei's Quirk was Blood Control. She walked over to him and bowed, "Good morning, Vlad King-sensei." Vlad King grunted, "Good morning, Marie Freeman. Shishida-kun should be here soon. I take it that Aizawa-san told you about my escorting you?" Marie nodded, "He explained it to me, yes. You'll be hanging back and check in on us occasionally during our date. You'll be on the lookout for any villains and protect us as necessary." Vlad King grunted, satisfied.

After two minutes of silence, Marie felt awkward and asked, "Um…sensei? Can I ask about Midnight?" Vlad King grunted, "Is this regarding your adoption?" Marie nodded. "I won't say anything about her personal life, that is her life," Vlad King said. "However, she is a good teacher, she takes her job seriously and cares about the students," Vlad King then said in a quieter voice that Marie was sure only someone with superhuman hearing would hear, "She already told the teachers that you are her biological daughter. If you wish to tell anyone, you have her permission to."

"I see," Marie said, confused. The whole reason her maternal grandparents hid her mother's teen pregnancy was to avoid a scandal, wouldn't it being known now still cause a scandal? She had to set that aside, as she soon smelled Shishida arriving. "I'm sorry for taking so long, Sir Vlad King, Lady Freeman. I had a hard time choosing an appropriate outfit," Shishida said. Marie smelled a small hint of colon on him as she walked closer to him. "I'm sure you look fine," she said, "What about me?" Marie smelled the hormones as her date answered, "You look…amazing." Marie took his right arm as she said, "Thanks. Now let's go!"

Vlad King had them go in his car to head into the city. While he drove, Shishida explained his plans for the date. He had found a movie theater that provided headphones to blind patrons so they could listen to a description of the movies playing, they were going to see a movie about the legendary Japanese hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and from there they would go to a nice Italian restaurant for lunch that had Braille menus for her, Opera Italia. After that they would be walking around and then come back to U.A. around four.

"Sounds like a nice date," Marie said as Vlad King parked the car. He got out and let Shishida and Marie out. Shishida led Marie to the theater. "Two for 'The Tale of Minamoto'," Shishida ordered. Marie smelled all the people inside, a press of human scents mixed with the smells of sodas and popcorn and candy. Marie had to stop and focus on the smell of Shishida to avoid being overwhelmed and held on to him a little tighter. "Are you alright, Lady Freeman?" Shishida asked her. "I'm sorry," Marie said, "Since I lost my sight, I had to focus on my other senses to compensate. The smells here are a little overwhelming." Shishida asked, "Would you like to leave?" Marie shook her head, "No, I'll be fine."

They went in and Shishida bought a large tub of popcorn and two medium sodas, orange-vanilla flavored Coke for him and Sprite for her. They made their way through the crowd into the theater, and Marie found the headphones for her behind her seat. She put them on and waited through the credits silently with Shishida. She heard what sounded like a romantic comedy, a sci-fi movie about Heroes battling alien demons on Jupiter's moon, and a documentary being released in a month about the career of the now retired Number One Hero All Might. And then the movie finally started.

Marie was enraptured as a narrator described the opening, a scene of the young warrior, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, walking to a bridge where hundreds of blood-stained swords are embedded in the ground before it. A large warrior wielding a naginata stands before the bridge. This was the first meeting of Yoshitsune and his most dedicated companion, Saito Musashibo Benkei. The next two hours was filled with amazing battles the two of them fought together against overwhelming odds. Everything was amazing, Marie could almost see it all, and was finally on the verge of tears at the end; when Yoshitsune could no longer defeat his enemies and had to retreat to his castle to perform hara-kiri and deny them the glory of his death, while Benkei died keeping their enemies at bay one final time.

As they got up to leave, Marie said told Shishida, "That was amazing, Shishida." "I wasn't sure if you'd like it or not, I had heard that you only recently lost your sight, and were having trouble adjusting," he responded. "It's true, it would be easier for me if I could see. Then I wouldn't have to focus on my hearing and smell so much," Marie admitted, "I remember my Dad telling me stories about Japan's cherry blossoms, and the forests, and mountains, and the pictures he'd show me. The beauty of the Shinto temples, and so much more. I wanted to see them all myself…"

Marie was suddenly interrupted by the sound of screams as…something big crashed through the theater. Shishida picked Marie up and carried her to a spot. "SHISHIDA-KUN! FREEMAN-CHAN! KEEP THE CIVILIANS AWAY FROM THE VILLAIN!" Vlad King yelled. "What's going on!?" Marie yelled to Shishida. "There's a villain, he looks like some kind of rock creature, he just tossed a car to the theater! Lady Freeman, we need to do what Sir Vlad King said," Shishida told her. Marie nodded and transformed. "WE ARE THE HEROES OF U.A.! EVERYONE REMAIN CALM AND GO TO EXITS AT THE BACK OF THE THEATER!" Marie loudly and calmly yelled. "EVERYONE PLEASE GO TO THE EXITS AT BACK THE THEATERS! WE HAVE THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL!" Shishida also bellowed.

People quickly left the front lobby, and Marie heard a woman yell, "Help me!" Marie went to the voice and smelled blood. Marie reached where the smell of blood was strongest and grabbed the woman's thigh. She screamed in pain and Marie realized she was bleeding, bad. "This is going to hurt, but I need to stop the bleeding," Marie explained as she tore a piece of her blouse off and packed it into the woman's wound. Marie quickly tore another, longer piece off and tied it to tie off the wound. Marie lifted the woman up bridal style and carried her to where she smelled Shishida. "She's got a leg wound," Marie explained to him. "Everyone else has been evacuated, and Sir Vlad King is still fighting the villain," Shishida told her.

Just then, Marie heard someone fly through the air, it was Vlad King. "SENSEI!" Marie and Shishida yelled. Vlad King got up and said, "The EMT's are arriving through another route. Evacuate that woman, and then watch over the civilians, Freeman-chan. Shishida-kun, with me!" "Yes sir!" Marie and Shishida declared. Marie made her way as quickly as she could through the theater and went through an exit. She smelled more people waiting. Marie heard a child yell, "Mommy!" and a man yell, "Chiyo!" Marie explained as the man and child came closer, "She's been wounded in her leg. I've managed to stop the bleeding, but she'll need medical attention."

Marie suddenly heard a hundred bullets fly through the air as the civilians screamed. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" the shooter yelled, "I'm betting the police will pay a lot more for living hostages than dead corpses, so nobody move an inch!" Marie smelled the air deeply and smelled a man that reeked like gunpowder. Meaning the gunshots were related to his Quirk. Not good. "Sir," Marie whispered to the assumed husband of the woman she saved. The man asked, "What?" "I'm blind," Marie explained, "I know this is asking a lot of you, but, if you can, try to see how many Villains there are. If I know that, I can end this quickly. Trust me, I'm a student of U.A."

Marie heard a sound like a coiled spring being released and then the man said, "I saw two of them. One has index fingers that look like gun barrels, the other is a huge man, at least two meters, and he has swords coming out of his wrists. I didn't see closely, but they might be brothers, they have black hair and their tongues are hanging out like they're excited dogs." "Alright, thank you," Marie said as she crouched low and considered her plan. The one with the gun index fingers, 'Trigger Finger' sounded like a good nickname for him, he had to be taken down first. Then she could deal with his maybe-brother, 'Sword Arms'. Marie sniffed the air more, making sure she knew Trigger Finger's exact location. Once she was sure, she got ready.

Marie took off her heels then focused her strength and leaped above the heads of the hostages. "NANI!?" she heard Trigger Finger yell. Marie fell on top of him and quickly grabbed his wrists, making sure his gun fingers were pointed up in the air. He let loose with a burst of gunfire from his fingers, and Marie squeezed his wrists tightly until she heard the crunch of his bones breaking. "NII-SAN!" the deeper voice of Sword Arms yelled as Marie quickly let go of Trigger Finger and jumped up, then knocked out Trigger Finger with a kick to his head. Marie barely managed to jump back from Sword Arms swing, even then she felt as one of the swords from his arms sliced through her blouse, millimeters away from her flesh.

Sword Arms was swinging wildly and quickly, using his height and reach advantage to keep Marie from closing in on him. Marie ducked and backed off and circled around her opponent as best she could, knowing that a single misstep and she would be dead. She narrowly ducked under an X slice from sword arms and realized this was he chance. She sprang forward arms outstretched and grabbed his thighs. She dug her claws into them and sliced his thighs deeply. Sword Arms screamed in pain and started to fall on top of Marie. Marie quickly put her elbow up as the full weight of her larger opponent landed on her, and her elbow dug into his solar plexus, driving the air from his lungs.

With a grunt, Marie pushed him off of her as the sound of sirens drew near. The hostages all cheered as Marie stood up. Shishida and Vlad King soon arrived, and Vlad King asked, "What's happened here?" "These two might have been working with the guy you were fighting," Marie explained, "These two were taking the civilian's hostage, talked about holding them for ransom. I dealt with them." Vlad King grunted, "Good job, for someone from 2-A. I'm afraid that your date with Shishida-kun is over now, both of your clothes are ruined, and we have to answer questions with the police. I'll have paperwork too, so I can't chaperone you."

"Figures," Marie sighed as she tore what was left of her ruined blouse off. The police and EMT's took the hostage takers away and the woman Marie had helped, Chiyo. Marie, Shishida, and Vlad King went as well, Vlad King had taken a few hard hits, as had Shishida. As they three of them were riding in an ambulance, Marie asked, "So, what happened?" Shishida answered, "The villain was a small-time Villain called 'Golem', his Quirk was that he could make small copies of himself from any kind of rock or cement. He had been trying to rob a nearby bank, another Hero, Death Arms, was battling him, and the car that went into the theater was a complete accident. Death Arms, Sir Vlad King, and I had to fight an army of copies, but we managed to stop Golem."

"Well, can't say this wasn't an exciting date at least," Marie joked. Shishida grunted a little, "Not an experience I would like to have again." They were quiet the rest of the ride to the Hospital.


	15. Chapter 15: Midnight and Joey's Date

**Chapter 15: Midnight and Joey's Date**

 **Midnight**

After seeing Marie leave with Shishida and Vlad King, Nemuri headed back into the dorm. "Joey! It's time to go!" she yelled when she didn't see him in the lounge area. "Aizawa-sensei took Joey-chan to the bathroom, Midnight-sensei," Kaminari told her. "Alright," Nemuri said, and sat down, going back over her plan. She had found a good museum nearby; she would take Joey there to see the exhibits. Then lunch at an Indian restaurant. Marie had told her about how Joey's mother, Mysa, was an Indian immigrant, and would usually make traditional Indian food, sometimes with Joey helping her. Nemuri had no idea how to cook traditional Indian food, yet, so a restaurant would have to do for now. After lunch, they'd head for a new playground that had opened up. They'd be doing a lot of walking, which would hopefully give them time to talk things out.

Nemuri saw Aizawa leading Joey and Eri from the bathroom and went over to them. "Thanks, Aizawa. Are you ready, Joey?" she said. Joey looked around, "Is Marie already gone?" Nemuri nodded, "I'm afraid so. But we'll see her later when her date's over. For now, let's go." Joey looked at her offered hand and took it after a few seconds. "Bye, Joey!" Eri waved goodbye and Joey said over his shoulder, "Bye, Eri-chan!"

The two of them left U.A. and Nemuri hailed a taxi. As they drove Nemuri told Joey, "I found a good museum we can go to about the Heroes of Japan, and a nice restaurant as well when you get hungry. I hope you like them." Joey looked at her, and she thought she saw the beginning of a smile in his eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't take more time off but being a Hero and a teacher means I don't have much time for myself. I wish I could spend more time with you, and Marie, but my work doesn't let me," she explained to him as the taxi drove. "I know…" Joey said, "But… it still stinks." Nemuri smiled at that, "That's life, all you can do is face it all with all the youthful passion you got and fight for what you can."

The rest of the drive to the museum, Nemuri got Joey to open up about his Mother, Mysa. At first, the boy was reluctant, but by the time they were at the museum, he was talking so fast he stopped speaking in Japanese and just spoke in English. Mysa was 'the most beautiful woman in the world' according to her son, and loved cooking Indian food, singing karaoke at public karaoke clubs and at home. She would often sing when doing chores. Her favorite songs were old Jazz songs like 'Minnie the Moocher' and 'St. James Infirmary Blues'. Joey also heard her singing K-Pop songs sometimes, but he couldn't remember the lyrics since he didn't understand them.

Mysa liked musicals and old action movies, from the Pre-Quirk Era. She liked seeing regular people overcome great odds and winning in the end. Joey talked about her favorite color; gold, not yellow, her favorite flower; honeysuckle, and her favorite food; vanilla ice cream cake. Joey was talking about her last birthday party by the time they reached the museum. "And after Dad dropped the cake, Mom looked like she was going to explode! She kind of looked like you, when you got angry…after the funeral…" Joey finished saying, the memory having put a damper on his good mood.

Nemuri put a comforting hand on his shoulder as they got out and she paid the driver. Nemuri remembered the pictures she had seen of Mysa, there were a lot of facial similarities between them, only Mysa had darker skin and white hair were the most obvious differences, although seeing pictures of Mysa and Joseph showed that Mysa was also shorter and wasn't as physically fit as Nemuri, due to being a housewife instead of a Hero. She quickly thought of something she could see, and put on a smile and said, "Joseph-kun had good taste in women, and I wish I could have known Mysa-san." Joey looked up at her, he had a curious look on her face, and Nemuri thought that he was…examining her. He stopped after a few seconds, and looked at the museum, reading the sign outside, "Tokyo Hero Museum."

Joey's eyes lit up in awe, "I-I heard of this place. Lieutenant Liberty's original costume is stored here!" "Well, let's go then," Nemuri said, glad to see Joey was in a good mood again. The two went into the museum, Nemuri letting Joey lead the way to where he wanted to go. Joey's eyes were practically glowing he was so happy the whole time as they looked at exhibits of Heroes from previous generations. Learning about how Heroes emerged from the chaos that came about as Quirks became more and more common, and helped the governments of the world re-establish order, and saved human civilization in the process.

Finally, they reached the Lieutenant Liberty exhibit. Joey had a giant smile on his face as he looked at the red, white, and blue police officer costume of one of the original Heroes. Lieutenant Liberty was a Guatemalan immigrant whose family came to America when he was a baby. Most of his life he was sickly and weak; but would always strive to protect others. At first it was thought he was Quirkless, until at the age of sixteen when his Power Type Quirk manifested. Lieutenant Liberty's Quirk made him twice as strong as an Olympic Athlete and gave him the dexterity and flexibility of a gymnast as well as the stamina of a long-distance runner. With this new physical prowess, Daniel de Léon would battle drug cartels, Quirk gangs, and several would be terrorist organizations around the world.

Never married, Lieutenant Liberty was an active Hero for fifty-two years, until at the age of seventy he suffered a severe injury to his right leg while saving a family from a building fire. His leg had to be amputated, and technology had not yet recovered from the early Chaotic Years enough for a good prosthetic to be made for him. Nemuri and Joey watched the video of Lieutenant Liberty as he made his final public appearance at the age of 94 for the opening of the Tokyo Hero Museum. He would pass away in his sleep one year later.

Joey was completely transfixed by the videos of Lieutenant Liberty showing him demonstrating his Quirk, interviews he made, and public charity events he sponsored where he and other Heroes competed in sports and other displays of their prowess. Nemuri and Joey kept on going through the museum, Joey was still paying attention, but it was clear that the Lieutenant Liberty exhibit was the highlight of his day. They were at the end when Nemuri saw something she wasn't expecting. It was a mannequin wearing a red, no, scarlet outfit, thigh high boots below a tight leather sleeveless minidress and long matching gloves with a wide rimmed scarlet fedora hat and domino mask. "Scarlet Scourge!" Nemuri yelled out in disbelief.

She went to touch the mannequin before a large man with a beard that looked like seaweed said, "Sorry, ma'am, this exhibit isn't ready for the public yet." Nemuri looked and saw she had completely missed the signs saying that she wasn't supposed to be there. "Oh, sorry. It's just, I'm a bit of a fan of the Retro Heroes. I was surprised to see Scarlet Scourge's costume here," Nemuri quickly said, seeing Joey had stayed behind where the signs were saying 'Do Not Enter'. "I understand," the man with the seaweed beard said, "Next week Scarlet Scourge's exhibit will be up, and the museum even has some of her support items as well. You'll be able to enjoy the full experience then." "Thank you," Nemuri said, and quickly headed back to Joey.

"What happened?" Joey asked as they headed out of the museum, "One minute you were fine, then you saw that costume and you were hypnotized or something." Nemuri explained, "That was the outfit of one of my inspirations, The Scarlet Scourge. I guess you could say she was the first Heroine to ever use her sex appeal to her advantage." After explaining this, Nemuri heard Joey's stomach growl. "Looks like we left just in time, there's a nice restaurant nearby I think you'll like," she said. Nemuri held out her hand, and Joey took it after a second, and they two of them made their way through the crowds of the city. After about ten minutes they finally reached the Indian restaurant, Delhi Deli. Joey looked at her when he saw the sign. "Delhi Deli…" he said. "Yep, I read a lot of reviews, four and a half stars with over three thousand reviews. And Marie told me that you missed having Indian style food. I can't really cook that…aside from curry, so I thought this was worth a try," Nemuri explained. "Okay…I hope the food is better than the name," Joey said as they went inside.

A waitress quickly directed them to a table where Nemuri ordered a water with lemon and Joey asked for a root beer. "I'm sorry, we don't have root beer," the waitress said. "Lemonade?" Joey asked. "We do have that," the waitress answered, and chose that for his drink. "I should have warned you," Nemuri told him, "Most Japanese people don't like root beer. We'd need to go to a special store to buy some, I don't think any restaurants carry it." Joey sighed, "Nuts." Nemuri and Joey browsed the menu and quickly made up their minds. Nemuri just chose some spicy curry with naan bread on the side and Joey ordered a spicy rice and chicken dish, biryani. They ordered when the waitress came back with their drinks and ordered their food. As they waited, Nemuri decided it was a good time to start talking.

"Joey, I remember how you said I don't care about you," she started, and Joey looked at her with a guilty look. "You're not in trouble but, I am concerned. I do care, and I want to know what I did to make you think I didn't." Joey took a sip of his lemonade thoughtfully before saying, "We never do anything, not like me and Mom did. You're always with Marie." Nemuri took a second to think, and realized he was right. This was probably the first time it was really just the two of them spending real time together without Marie there. She responded, "Oh…I see. I'm sorry, Joey, but like Marie said, your Mom had your Dad to help her take care of things. It's just me handling…everything. I need to work to pay for the apartment, cable, food, clothes, tutors and everything else. And working two jobs takes a lot of my time too.

"Because Marie is a student at U.A., I have more opportunities to see her, it's true," she continued, "I really didn't think much about it, until you pointed it out. It's not that I don't want to spend more time with you, I promise, but I don't have the time and opportunities like your Mom did to be with you. I'm sorry if you thought I didn't care as much about you as I do Marie. I'm afraid that life is unfair like that." She didn't want to say that, but Joey already knew how unfair life was, sugarcoating it wouldn't help the boy. She could see that there was something else on his mind and asked, "Is there anything else?" Joey mumbled something in English she didn't quite catch and asked him to repeat it. Joey mumbled a little louder, but not so much other people could hear, "I wish your costume wasn't so sexy. I can't tell people you adopted me, everyone would call me a liar and pervert."

Nemuri didn't have an answer for that and had to stop and think about it. She couldn't change her image now, she built her entire persona and career as the 'sexy dominatrix', there had never been a Hero who could easily change that and still remain successful. And not to mention the loss of income that such a disruption might cause, that sort of loss could be catastrophic now that she had to take care of two kids. And she wasn't ashamed of her image, she was sexy and she knew it, and used it successfully. Nemuri took a sip of her water before telling him, "I can't change what I am. When I was training to be a Hero I realized how my Quirk works. My body's pores are larger than average and release my natural body odor, which it basically sleeping gas, however it only works when my skin is in open air. To use my Quirk I had two choices, wear as little clothes as possible, or wear something that I can take off easily to release my scent. Understand so far?"

Joey nodded and said, "So, you kinda have to be the 'sexy girl' or nobody would take you seriously." "Exactly," Nemuri said, "I decided rather than hide it, I'd embrace it. And it's been working for me. I know that this puts you in a tough spot, I never meant for that to happen. But my reputation isn't as bad as you think. It might be hard if people find out, or it might be good. A lot of people are fans of mine, and I've saved hundreds of people over the years. Whether you tell anyone about who I am is your choice, Joey. Afterwards, you might find out who your true friends are."

After she said this, their food finally arrived. Joey concentrated on eating and Nemuri was quiet as they ate, waiting to see how he'd react. The curry was very good, and Joey seemed to be enjoying his biryani, they were almost done when Nemuri heard a voice she didn't want to hear say, "I didn't think you were a shotacon, Midnight." Midnight looked up, and saw a blonde woman she didn't recognize, at first, she was wearing a green jacket with jeans and sneakers, before she saw her red eyes and her haughty smile. "Mt. Lady, I didn't think you liked Indian food," she levelly said, "And I'm not a shotacon, this is Joey, my son." Their waitress arrived just then and asked if Mt. Lady would like a meal, and Nemuri said, "She's separate. I'd like my bill now, please." Mt. Lady made a show of looking around then said, "So, where's Joey's Daddy, with his real wife?"

Joey looked down then, and Nemuri glared daggers at the other Heroine. Mt. Lady only kept up her haughty smile while the waitress brought their bill. Nemuri took a deep breath, she wanted to use her scent on her rival and then humiliate her while she could, but that wasn't the mature response, the response that would be a good example for Joey. She instead said, "Is this really the way a Hero should act in public, Takeyama? Sniping and arguing in public? You're supposed to be a Hero, act like it." Nemuri got up to leave, and Joey started to leave, but then stopped in front of Takeyama as she stood up to take Nemuri's seat. Nemuri saw the angry tears in Joey's eyes as he looked at Takeyama and should have moved faster, because the next second Joey pulled his arm back, and punched the other Heroine right in her crotch!

Nemuri quickly grabbed Takeyama's shoulders as she looked too shocked to scream and dropped her in her seat before grabbing Joey and hastily leaving the Delhi Deli. They kept on walking quickly, her holding on to Joey with a grip like a vise, trying not to laugh at the look on Takeyama's face. _Served the bitch right… Oh God I can't let Joey think it's okay to hit people… That looked like it hurt… She had that coming for so long… I don't know whether to be proud or stern right now…_ She finally stopped walking after they were at least two blocks away from the Delhi Deli. Joey had been quietly keeping up with her the whole time. When they stopped, Nemuri looked at him, and he quietly looked at her, his eyes still burning with angry tears.

"Joey, that was not how you should have acted," she managed to say. "Dad never cheated on Mom, he didn't!" Joey said, not loudly but vehemently enough for people to look in their direction. "I know, he wasn't that kind of man," Nemuri quickly said, "He was a good, honorable man who always tried to do the right thing. Was hitting Takeyama the right thing?" Joey just looked at her and said, "You don't even like her, you two fight all the time." _Damn that video… why did I HAVE to agree to that interview!?_ Midnight managed not to show what she was thinking, "That doesn't matter. You can't solve all your problems with your fists. People like her thrive on getting a reaction, that was why I was walking away. I didn't want to give her what she wanted.

"Joey, you need to control your anger. I know how hard it is, trust me, I do. But if you let it control you, then it will ruin your life. I've seen too many young men and women let their anger destroy them, I don't want that to happen to you too," she told her adopted son. She had to get it across to him, she had to raise this child right. She had lost her chance to raise her own daughter, she had to be as good a parent as she could be to her former lover's son. More angry tears fell from Joey's face as he said, "I know." Nemuri gave him a hug and let him cry on her shoulder as she picked him up and continued walking down the street, there was a park nearby she was hoping to take Joey to, but now she was considering hailing a taxi and heading home. She noticed that Joey was holding on to her as she walked.

She turned around to hail a taxi when her phone rang. "Joey, I need to take this," she said as she set him down. Joey was done crying and nodded as she let him down and took her phone out of her purse, it was Vlad King. Nemuri felt a cold dagger of fear pierce her heart and quickly answered, "Kan-san, what happened? How's Marie?" Kan grunted, "Your daughter is fine, but we're at the Utapa Hospital now. There was a bank robbery and we got caught up in it." "How is Marie?" Nemuri asked again. "Nothing worse than some scrapes, although her clothes were ruined when she fought and captured two of the robbers who tried to escape and ended up taking hostages from the theater we went to. It was mostly Shishida-kun and I who were injured," Vlad King answered.

Nemuri sighed in relief, "I'm on my way to the Hospital." Vlad King answered, "We'll be waiting for you then. You may want to get some new clothes so Freeman-chan can leave with her dignity." Nemuri responded, "I understand. Thank you for looking out for her, Kan-san. Truly." Vlad King only answered, "I was only doing my job. Goodbye." He hung up and Nemuri hailed a cab. She and Joey went to U.A. first and Nemuri told Joey what happened during the ride there. Nemuri grabbed some of Marie's clothes, her sneakers, a pair of shorts and a heavy metal band shirt, and then had the taxi driver take her and Joey to Utapa Hospital.

They arrived and immediately were directed to the hospital room where Shishida, Vlad King, and Marie were. Shishida had some bandages on his arms and around his chest while Vlad King's head and one of his legs was wrapped up. Marie was sitting still on her bed wearing a hospital gown and watching what sounded like a zombie movie on her phone. "Hey, Mom, Joey," she greeted and paused her movie. "Good afternoon, Lady Midnight, Joey-chan," Shishida greeted, and Vlad King grunted and nodded in their direction. "Are you all alright?" Nemuri asked them. "Just some scrapes, and my favorite blouse was ruined," Marie said. "Nothing life threatening," Vlad King said. "I should be alright in a few days, Lady Midnight," Shishida answered. Joey went to Marie and asked, "Was it hard, fighting the villains?"

"Nah," Marie answered in English, "One guy had guns for index fingers and shot bullets out of them. He was easy, broke his arms and he couldn't shoot anymore. The other guy though was hard, he had swords coming out of his arms. I had to really dodge as fast as I could, he was the tough one. But after I carved up his legs and elbowed his solar plexus, he wasn't in the mood to fight after that." It was then that there was a knock on the door. A nurse let a tall father with purple hair, like his son, and a woman with black hair and pink eyes in a wheelchair. "Jougo!" Joey yelled at the same time the son said, "Joey!" "What are you doing here?" both boys said. "Now now," Jougo's father said, "We need to properly introduce ourselves first." Nemuri agreed, "Of course." Marie got up and together the three of them bowed to Jougo and his family, "I am Kayama Nemuri. These are my adopted children, Joseph Jerome Freeman Jr, everyone calls him Joey. And this is Marie Nemuri Freeman. It's nice to meet you." Jougo's family then bowed, and his Father said, "I am Higashikata Jouichi. This is my wife, Misao, and our son, who Joey-chan has already met, Jougo. It's nice to meet you."

"So, this is the Joey-chan you told us about," Higashikata Misao said to Jougo, then turned to Joey, "It's nice to meet you, and your family." She then turned to Marie and Higashikata Jouichi pushed her wheelchair closer to her. "Thank you so much, for saving us," she told Marie and bowed to her again. "I was only doing my job as a Hero…in training," Marie answered. Higashikata-san then said, "No, if you hadn't stopped my bleeding then and then saved us from those villains, we'd be dead." Nemuri grasped what she was saying, and Higashikata Jouichi's eyes widened, "You mean, you're pregnant!? Since when?!" Higashikata Misao answered, "Five weeks. I wasn't sure, but the doctor's discovered it while I was being treated." She then turned back to Marie, "If I have a girl, may I name her after you, Marie-chan?"

"M-me?" Marie said in English, before saying in Japanese, "Uh…It's an honor, but…why?" Misao told her, "If I have a daughter, I want her to be as brave and as strong as you were today. You never hesitated to keep us safe, and the doctors told me if I you hadn't stopped my leg from bleeding, I would have died. Your quick actions saved us." Marie swallowed for a minute before saying, "Of course." Jougo then stepped forward and said, "You're awesome, Marie-nee-chan. Can I…have your autograph?" "Anyone have a pen and paper?" Marie said after a second. Jougo pulled out a notebook and handed it to Marie and a pen. She was about to write, but then stopped, "Do you want my real name, or my Hero name?" Nemuri went over to Marie, "Do you have a Hero name?" Marie nodded, "I know what I will be."

Jougo happily said, "Yeah! I want your Hero name!" Marie smiled, "You better keep this then, you're the first person to get an autograph from: Wolfheart."

Nemuri's heart skipped a beat then, but she managed not to show it. Jougo happily took Marie's autograph along with autographs from Vlad King and Shishida. The Higashikata family thanked them all and then left the room. Marie got dressed in the clothes Nemuri brought. Fifteen minutes later, they were all cleared by the Hospital to leave and Nemuri drove Vlad King's car back to U.A. Shishida and Marie said their goodbyes, and Marie got something to eat in the common area of the dorms. Nemuri watched this all and didn't say anything unless someone spoke to her. Silently she prayed that the second Wolfheart would not share the fate of the first.

 **Author's Note: From now on, when showing Marie's point of view, it will be labeled Wolfheart after her Hero name.**


	16. Chapter 16: Bad News and Bodyguards

**Chapter 16: Bad News and Bodyguards**

 **Wolfheart**

Marie woke up with a gasp and touched her face. She was still blind, and she had just had a nightmare. She remembered it clearly. Her Father and Stepmom weren't dead, they were alive. She saw them clearly as she tried to run to them. And the whole time she was running, she saw only a look of disappointment on her parents' faces as she tried to run towards them as fast as she could. As she ran for hours it felt like, she could not catch up to them and finally yelled, "Wait for me!" It was then that her Father finally spoke, fire pouring out of his mouth as he yelled, "You will never be me!" The fire shot out of his mouth and consumed both of her parents before consuming Marie as well. And then she woke up.

Marie hadn't dreamed about her parents since they had been murdered. She got out of bed and felt her way to the shrine that her Mother had helped her make for her Father and Stepmom. As she found the matches, she put two incense sticks in a pot in front of the picture of her parents. She carefully struck a match and lit the incense sticks before blowing the match out and tossing it in a bin next to her bed. Marie clapped her hands and bowed her head like she remembered seeing in a video about how Japanese people would honor their dead. The girl swallowed, feeling small as she said, "Dad, Mom, please be with me now and help me. I can't be the Hero I should be without you."

That was all she could get out. There was so much more she wanted to say but her emotions were stopping her. She felt so many, pride, fear, joy, despair, anger…and hope. Hope that after she declared herself the second Wolfheart that she could truly follow her Father's example and bring honor to his name. Marie took several deep breaths before she stood up and got ready for her day.

The day went by as usual until it was time for her to take Hero Art History with her Mother when over the loudspeakers there was an announcement, "Will Midnight-sensei and Marie Freeman please come to the Principal's office." "What's going on?" Ashido asked, she was next to Marie. "I have no idea," Marie said and got up, using her cane to get out of the classroom. As soon as the door was closed Midnight took her arm. "Mom, what's going on?" Marie asked. "I don't know," her Mother answered, her voice sounded quite concerned, "The Principal wouldn't have called us if it wasn't important though."

The two of them went into Principal Nezu's office and Marie smelled that Joey was already there, along with four others, only one of whom she recognized. She smelled one of her Father's comrades in arms, a frequent guest to their house, Frank. He smelled like he was wearing his Hero Uniform. Frank Hawkins, also known as the Bullseye Hero: Sureshot, wore a brown leather cowboy hat and matching boots with jeans and a turquoise poncho under which he had numerous weapons including two .45 Colt Peacemaker revolvers, a dozen throwing knives, a steel tomahawk, and others he kept secret. "Frank! Why are you here!? What's going on?" Marie yelled in English.

"Freeman-chan, please sit down and we will explain everything," the Principal said. Marie sat down then and swallowed.

 **Joey**

Joey looked at everyone present from Frank, to his sidekick that was introduced, a petite woman who appeared to be a Native American who was only 5 feet tall with boyish short hair in a red leotard for her costume with matching combat boots, to another Pro-Hero and her sidekick. This Pro-Hero was someone he only heard about, she was a black woman in her sixties, standing 5 feet 7 inches with long silver hair down her back in a ponytail and wearing a simple purple muumuu with the symbol of a black raised fist on her chest, the Mystic Heroine: Kalisha. Beside Kalisha was a tall young Filipino man, at least 6 feet 4 inches tall who looked like he was only just out of high school and wore a tight purple bodysuit with four white triangles on it that left his arms exposed along with white goggles on his eyes steel grey eyes that contrasted with his neon green hair. Soon Marie and Midnight arrived, and Marie asked Frank what was going on. Principal Nezu told her to sit down in English so he could explain.

"Twelve hours ago in Okinawa police cameras captured an image of this man," Principle Nezu said and Frank pulled out a smart tablet to show the image. Joey whimpered when he saw who it was. There was no mistaking that red hair or those terrifying black and green eyes, it was Pyromaniac. "Joey, what's wrong?" Marie asked and Joey struggled to breathe as his mind and body remembered that awful day.

 ** _Three Months Ago…_**

 ** _Mom had got up to go to the bathroom. They were all outside waiting for their entrees when suddenly a fireball screamed through the air and hit Mom's head. Mom collapsed as Marie and Dad screamed and they both barely avoided another fireball. Joey screamed as other customers ran and fell while what felt like a hundred Villains attacked. Dad pushed Joey under their table and told him, "Stay here Joey!" before he transformed and started fighting Villains with Marie. Joey could only stare as his Mother's head was consumed by flames, her body twitching in her death throes as the smell of burning human flesh filled the air._**

 ** _Joey looked out from under the table as Marie and Dad sent Villains flying left and right with powerful kicks and claws, before Marie saw Him, Pyromaniac. "MURDERER!" Marie yelled as she ran towards him. Dad turned to help, only for a man that looked like a dragon to then claw his chest, forcing him to fight the dragon man instead. Marie clawed and kicked at Pyromaniac, but the large man avoided all her attacks, smiling like a shark the whole time. Marie suddenly lunged out too far and lost her balance, and Pyromaniac grabbed her wrist with his left hand and pulled her closer before slamming his flaming right hand into her eyes with a karate chop._**

 ** _He tossed Marie aside as she screamed, "My EYES! MY EYES!" Dad saw her and ran at her as Pyromaniac summoned another fireball. "STOP!" Dad yelled. "Why should I?" Pyromaniac asked. "Take me, I'm the one you want!" Dad yelled, "I TOOK YOUR EYE! LEAVE MY CHILDREN OUT OF THIS!" Somehow Pyromaniac's shark-like smile grew even larger as he said, "Deal!" Pyromaniac wrapped a hand over Dad's mouth and whispered so quietly only those with super hearing could hear, "I'll leave them for another day."_**

 ** _Before Dad could stop him, Pyromaniac blasted fire out of his hand, consuming Dad's head, before grabbing his shirt and lifting him up over his own head and unleashing a pillar of fire into the sky a thousand feet high. He dropped Dad's body and looked directly at Joey, who was too paralyzed with fear to say anything. The Villain said, "Don't worry, you'll be with your Mommy and Daddy soon enough." Fire blasted out of Pyromaniac's hands like two rockets and he took off in the air just as Police and Heroes arrived…_**

 ** _Present Day_**

"…ey! You're okay now!" Joey smelled Midnight and Marie around him, both of them were holding him close. Snot and tears were all over his face and he realized that he had wet himself he had been so afraid. He was shaking as he said, "H-he's h-h-here… He'll get us…" "No," Midnight told him, "Joey, look at me." Joey turned his head to Midnight. Her mask was off and her large blue eyes looked determined. "I promise you; he will never hurt you again." He then smelled something that was…calming and fell asleep.

 **Midnight**

Nemuri let Marie carry Joey as they went back into the Principal's Office. She had been forced to use her Quirk to let Joey sleep, she didn't know what else to do at the time. Frank, aka Sureshot, asked, "What did you do to him?" Nemuri explained, "I used my Quirk to put him to sleep for a while, that's all. He'll be physically fine." The American Hero looked at her neutrally, but then turned back to the Principal. Nezu cleared his throat before continuing, "As I was saying, we now know that Donovan Takahashi, aka Pyromaniac, is now in Japan. From the reports we received from America, he was forced to come here due to the manhunt for him in America. We do not believe that he knows that Marie-chan and Joey-chan are here, however, we cannot rule this out.

"According to testimony from Joey-chan after the Freeman's murder, Pyromaniac said that he would come for him soon. Because of this, Heroes such as Sureshot were put on duty as bodyguards and temporary guardians, until you adopted them, Kayama-sensei," Nezu explained. "Due to the success of this tactic, these Heroes here, Sureshot, his sidekick Springer, Kalisha, and her sidekick Elemental have been sent to help us protect Marie-chan and Joey-chan."

The old Heroine, Kalisha spoke up, "We were thinking that we could divide into teams and go undercover in the children's schools as substitute teachers. Luckily, two of Joey Freeman's teachers are due for parental leave soon. Springer and I are both proficient enough in Japanese that we can fill in the positions in Joey's school, I as the Art teacher and she as an assistant Gym coach." Sureshot then spoke up, "Meanwhile, me and Elemental will keep on eye on Marie here. We'll act as observers and teacher's assistants. We're planning on introducing ourselves as such officially tomorrow." Nezu resumed speaking then, "However, they are your children, Kayama-sensei. I strongly urge you to accept this assistance, but it is ultimately your decision. If you do not wish for these Heroes' assistance, we will respect your wish."

Nemuri looked at them all, from Frank, who seemed like he would protect Marie and Joey no matter what she said, to Kalisha whose face was inscrutable, to the sidekicks Springer and Elemental who were showing a combination of excitement and nervousness that they were trying to hide behind stoicism. Nemuri nodded and stood up facing the American Heroes. She turned to Marie who told her in Japanese, "Mom…we need their help." Nemuri's eyes widened in surprise that her daughter would swallow her pride enough to say this, but she turned back to the four American Heroes.

The Eighteen Plus Hero bowed low until her body was practically a right angle and said in English, "Please do all that you can to protect my children." Kalisha, Elemental, and Springer all quietly nodded and bowed back, Kalisha and Elemental saying, "We will do all we can to keep them safe." Sureshot however remained standing as he said to Marie, "As long as I'm breathing, that son of a bitch won't hurt you anymore." Marie nodded as she held her brother close, "I hope you can do that, Frank."

 ** _Several Hours Later_**

When Joey had awoken, Nemuri, Marie, and Frank all talked with him about their plan to keep him and Marie safe. He was introduced properly to Kalisha, Elemental, and Springer. They all explained their powers to her after Nemuri made her excuses to Joey's school and Marie finished her own remaining classes for the day. Kalisha's real name was Annisa Zola, her Quirk was 'Energy Manipulation'. She had trained in her power enough that she could use it to make shields, shoot energy from her hands that looked like lightning, manipulate objects, and even fly for short distances, as though she was a sorceress, which was what her Hero name Kalisha meant. Her sidekick, Elemental, real name Clint Ku, had the Quirk 'Four Elements'. He could create and manipulate the Western Classical Elements of earth, fire, water, and air, but only one at a time and his power was nothing compared to those who could manipulate only one or two of the Classical Elements, such as Todoroki. And finally, there was Springer, real name Hannah Nez, whose Quirk was 'Body Spring'. She could coil back parts of her body and shoot them out at knockout velocities and claimed she could coil her entire body for attacks that could shatter concrete. And Sureshot, aka Frank's Quirk was called 'Deadeye', anything his eyes saw, he could instinctively know how to hit it, he could even make his eyes move independently from each other to allow him to see everything within a 180 degree field in front of him.

After hearing about their Quirks, Nemuri was a little more confident in the Americans. The day passed quietly, thankfully, and Nemuri was able to take Joey home as normal. When Kaoru, the girl she had hired to babysit Joey when she was on patrol, arrived, Nemuri informed her that the situation had changed. Kaoru took it well and assured her that she was available later when things calmed down. Frank's presence was a large help, the large man assured Joey that everything would be alright with five strong Heroes protecting him and Marie. This comforted the boy enough that he was able to go to sleep by himself. After Joey was asleep, Nemuri asked the 'Bullseye Hero', "Be honest with me, do you really think that we can keep them safe?"

"I promised that Pyromaniac wouldn't hurt her or Joey anymore, that I'd keep him safe," Frank said, "And I'm a man that keeps his promises. That day, I was going to meet them because Joseph was helping me set up my own Agency so I could take on sidekicks. If it wasn't for traffic, I might have been there, I might have saved them, spotted that fiery bastard sooner. No matter what, I won't let them down again. I owe that much at least. Aside from that, Kalisha is one of the strongest Heroes in the good old USA, anyone she chooses as her sidekick has to be really special. And as for Springer, I've seen her take on ten Villains at once and beat them without getting a scratch. I don't care how good he is now, Pyromaniac's insane, he'll make mistakes, and that's when we'll take him down. Hard."

Nemuri saw the fiery passion in his eyes; and was turned on instantly. She turned on her own charm as she flirtatiously said, "It's so nice to have such a great Hero around. Take care of Joey while I'm on patrol." Frank seemed flustered, but only lowered his cowboy hat over his eyes as Nemuri walked off with an extra spring in her step that was only partially a come on. She had confidence in those Heroes and herself.


	17. Chapter 17: Starting to Crack

**Chapter 17: Starting to Crack**

 **Wolfheart**

She had to stop herself from panicking when she woke up. She smelled someone that wasn't immediately familiar outside but took a minute to compose herself. That was when she realized that the person standing outside her room was Kalisha's sidekick, Elemental, real name Clint Ku. She opened the door and casually asked, "Hey, Clint, want something to drink. You smell like you need a break." She heard the slightly older sidekick swallow before he said, "Uh…what do you have?" "Unsweet tea, sweet tea, peach tea, and milk," she told him. "I'd love some peach tea," he said. "Wait here," she said, and shut her door. She pulled out a cup, poured the tea and opened her door to give it to him before shutting the door to stretch and get dressed in private.

As she walked out; she asked Elemental, "So, Clint, how are we going to explain you to the rest of the class? After all, it's not everyday a grown man waits all night outside a teenage girl's room." "KAH- GAH- BUH-" the sidekick couldn't get the words out after she described him thusly. Marie had a devious smile, "Oh what is to become of my purity if my classmates find out that I let strange men in my room? I'll be ruined forever in marriage." She then raised her voice an octave and said the same thing in Japanese. She then took hold of the silent and completely humiliated sidekick's arm and whispered melodramatically, "My life in Japan is already over. Oh, I hope that you're ready to assume responsibility Clint-kun." All the while she got a good feel for his muscles, silently thinking to herself, _Holy COW! Jackpot! Slim swimmer's build and everything! Memo for the future: If Clint Ku's not seeing anyone in 2 years, look him up._

After letting Elemental stutter for another minute; she finally let loose her laughter, attracting the attention of other people in the dorms who hadn't reached the lounge area yet. "Who are you?" Marie heard Jirou ask. "Uh…" Elemental started, still flustered from Marie's trolling of him as he said in English, slowly, "I-I'm Cl…ELEMENTAL! Yes, I-I'm a H-H-Hero from America sent t-t-to keep Marie Freeman safe." "Oh?" Ashido Mina then said, sounding very happy, "Then why was Marie-chan talking about being ruined for marriage?" Poor Elemental was stuttering again, only to be saved by the timely arrival of Sureshot. "Marie, quit screwing with Elemental's head. I thought you'd take this more seriously," the Bullseye Hero said in a tone that was all business.

"I just wanted to have a little fun, test him out is all," Marie explained, then told Jirou and Mina in Japanese, "These two guys are here to protect me. It's true. I was just testing this guy because he's still a sidekick." Jirou asked seriously, "Why do you need protection?" Sureshot then spoke up in halting Japanese that sounded like he was reading from a translator app, "I will explain everything when your class is gathered at your Homeroom class. My colleague and I will need to be shown the way." Mina yelled, "I'll do it!" in accented English and quickly walked past the American Heroes. "Come on, I'll show you after breakfast!"

Everyone headed to the common area and quickly ate breakfast, except for Sureshot who said he already ate and handed what smelled like a fast food bag to Elemental saying, "Eat up kid. I'm relieving you for now. Be back in 12 hours." "Thank you!" the younger man said as he took the food and headed out. Everyone inquired about Sureshot as they saw him, and he explained in halting Japanese that he was a guest of the school and would explain everything in their Homeroom. Sero went over to Marie as she finished eating and asked, "You know this guy, right?" Marie nodded, "He was my Dad's best friend, and former sidekick." Sero asked, "So, what's with the eye thing? They're moving completely independently of each other. Is that his Quirk?" Marie explained, "Partially, yeah. Anything his eyes see he can hit with any projectile or firearm. He's acting kind of like a bodyguard right now, needs to watch out for stuff." "That's cool," Kirishima said, "All those scars too, he's a real tough guy." Marie nodded, "Yeah, he is."

Once everyone had eaten and finished getting ready, they made their way to Homeroom. Aizawa was waiting for them. As soon as everyone sat down their Homeroom teacher said, "Everyone, this is Sureshot. He is a Hero sent from America to act as a bodyguard for a witness to an ongoing case in America. As you doubtless already know; that case involves Freeman-chan and the murders of her parents. Under American law, she and her younger brother are considered witnesses in a Federal case, and it is believed that their lives are in danger from the murderer. As such, four Heroes have been sent to protect them. Sureshot here will be in charge of protecting Freeman-chan along with a sidekick named Elemental. I leave the rest to him to explain." Aizawa turned to Sureshot and in a quieter voice said, "I'll act as translator for you."

Sureshot then spoke in English, and Aizawa translated for him. "Your teacher explained the situation pretty well. The Villain's name is Pyromaniac, aka Donovan Takahashi. He is a highly dangerous fugitive who managed to avoid the Federal Bureau of Investigation and many Heroes across the United States. He hid and lay low for two months, slowly making his way from South Carolina, where he killed Joseph Freeman Sr, aka the Howling Hero Wolfheart, and his wife, Mysa Freeman, to Hawaii. The FBI thought they had him trapped, only for him to let loose and slaughter nearly everyone sent to capture him. One FBI helicopter with four FBI agents on board, twenty-four SWAT officers, and two Pro-Heroes were killed outright, the remaining six SWAT officers sent were all crippled or gravely wounded so they can no longer perform in the field anymore, and finally one Pro-Hero was kidnapped and sold to sex traffickers by Pyromaniac.

"That Hero, Queen Mab, is now seeking counseling after she was rescued. Whether or not she continues as a Hero remains to be seen," Sureshot gravely said. Aizawa turned the lights off then and turned on a projector to show video of the massacre taken from surviving body cameras. Marie grit her teeth as she heard the screams of the Heroes and officers, mixed with the insane laughter of Pyromaniac. She clenched her fists so hard that she felt her short nails digging into her palm. Her stomach started to churn as she remembered that day when she was powerless to stop Pyromaniac from killing her parents. The girl, no, the Hero clenched her teeth and fought down her bile, she wouldn't show fear.

The projector turned off and the lights were turned back on and Sureshot said, "If any of you see him, do NOT confront him! He will NOT hesitate to kill you, or anyone else nearby. If you see him, do what you can to evacuate civilians, and find a Pro-Hero or the Police. I've heard stories about the quality of students you have here in U.A., I am not saying this because I doubt your skills, power, or dedication. I am saying this because as you've just seen, Pyromaniac is extremely dangerous. This mad dog has claimed enough innocent lives, and I don't want any one of you to be among his victims.

"Elemental and I have been assigned to protect Marie Freeman, however, we will also work to keep you all safe if we can. For this, I have decided to train you in self-defense and martial arts as well, if you feel it necessary. ONLY use what you will learn to protect yourself, and if confronted by Pyromaniac, don't try to fight him. Focus on getting away. I cannot emphasize this enough," Sureshot finished speaking then, and class returned to normal. Partially.

Throughout the day, people kept their distance from her. No one talked to her, conversed with her, and seemed awkward around her. She hated it. Finally, at lunch, she made sure to sit with someone she thought wouldn't leave if she confronted them, Midoriya Izuku. She plopped herself down, right next to the super strong boy and said, "Midoriya, what's the deal?" Midoriya nervously said, "Huh? Deal?" Marie moved herself close enough that she could almost feel his body heat as she smelled him getting nervous. "Why is everyone treating me like they don't want to be near me anymore? Is everyone afraid to be around me now?" she asked him.

Iida was the one who answered, "That is not it at all, Freeman-kun. Uraraka-kun, Midoriya-Kun, and I thought that you would like some time to yourself. Uraraka-kun and Midoriya-kun told me about your parents' murder by Pyromaniac, and we thought you would like some time by yourself, to process that he is here, that you did not wish to be bothered. I am sorry for any misunderstanding, but I can say that if you wish me to treat you no differently, then I will not." Marie bowed her head and said, "Okay. Sorry for getting so close into your personal space, Midoriya. I…I don't want you to treat me differently. I know that things will change for you guys, but…I…" she was surprised when she started to feel tears in her eyes.

She quickly shut her eyes and looked down so no one at the table could see her tears. _Get a Goddamn grip, Marie! You shouldn't be like this. You need to focus on training, passing tests, overcoming your obstacles, not That SOB's face, not his fire, not his boot in your back… not…_ The girl couldn't fight it anymore, all the emotions in her soul were too much. Anger, self-hatred, and despair were going through her at lightning speeds. She thought she was over it, she thought she had moved on. She was wrong.

"Marie-chan!" she felt herself being held by Uraraka and remembered where she was. "You need to go to the Nurse's office, now, I'll take you," Uraraka said as she helped Marie off the table and led her by the hand to the Nurse's office. Sureshot followed them quietly, not saying anything as they went. Marie just quietly complied, too drained to resist. The two girls reached the Nurse's office and Uraraka explained what happened to Marie. "Thank you, Uraraka-chan. I'll handle things from here, you should head back to class," Recovery Girl told Uraraka. "Marie-chan, I'll see you later," Uraraka told Marie. Marie nodded vaguely in her direction and mumbled, "Thank you." Uraraka left the room, leaving Marie alone with Recovery Girl and Sureshot.

The large man went closer to Marie and pulled her into a hug which she reciprocated. Frank told Marie, "I'm sorry, Marie. I shouldn't have played that video." Marie managed to swallow enough tears down to say, "I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough. I-" Frank immediately grabbed her shoulders and she could feel his all-seeing eyes on her as he softly said, "You have nothing to be sorry for. Do you hear me?" Marie nodded as her tears kept falling. Frank continued, "This is not your fault, none of it. These tears are honest tears. Honest tears are nothing to be ashamed of. We all shed them at the funeral, all except you. You tried to stay strong for Joey, but you're only human. And humans can't hold back their tears forever."

"I thought I was done crying," Marie whispered, "I thought I was ready." Frank just held her close and was still holding her when Marie's Mother finally arrived. "What's wrong, Marie?" Midnight asked as she took Frank's place. Marie bowed her head, ashamed of herself. She couldn't hide the truth anymore. "I'm so afraid. He's here now, I can't face him again. If he comes, I can't keep anyone safe. He'll beat me again. He'll kill everyone…and I can't do anything to stop him." Midnight tried to assure her, "Marie, he won't hurt you again. We'll keep you safe, I promise. We have some of the greatest Heroes in all of Japan in this school. All of us will keep you and the other students safe, no matter what. Do you believe that?"

Marie swallowed and nodded. Midnight wiped Marie's face and led her to a sink to clean up. After Marie cleaned up, Midnight asked, "Do you not want to be a Hero?"

The young woman's blood froze in her veins when she heard that.

"Marie, this is a hard thing to say, but if you're not mentally ready, then you can't be a Hero. As you are now…I can't let you continue. If you panic, if you freeze at the wrong time…" Midnight didn't say what she was thinking. Marie could grasp what she wasn't saying, _'You or someone else could be killed.'_

"She's right," Recovery Girl finally chimed in, "The tests are dangerous, even with the faculty and staff doing our best to keep the students safe. If you are not careful, you could be severely injured, maybe even crippled beyond my power to heal."

Marie took a deep breath and gripped the sink hard; she was afraid that she might break it she was gripping so tightly. "No," she said.

"Marie, there's no reason for you to risk yourself," Midnight said.

"No," Marie said more firmly as she turned around, and reached out, grabbing her Mother's arm. "I won't give up. I can't."

Midnight was quiet and patted Marie's face with the hand Marie didn't have a grip on as she said, "I don't want to see you suffer anymore. I missed so much of your life, years I can never take back. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do."

"I can't not be a Hero now," Marie firmly said.

"Why?" Midnight, Kayama Nemuri, her Mother finally asked.

Marie turned her face in the direction of her Mother's and opened her eyes wide before answering, "It should have been me that day. Pyromaniac had me, I was helpless, he burnt my eyes, I was in so much pain that he easily got me on the ground, he was standing over me, ready to kill me. But Dad…he offered himself instead. I was too weak then. And Dad died. Because I was weak. I…I need to be a Hero…a better one than he ever could have been…or he died for nothing."

Marie managed to hold back her tears as she talked, and her Mother pulled her into a hug as she said, "Do you really think that Joseph-kun thought like that?" Marie was quiet as Midnight continued, "He would want you to be happy, no matter what kind of life you had. As long as you are happy with your life, he would be too, right? Marie, he and Mysa-san wouldn't want you to cripple yourself, would they?" Marie shook her head before saying, "But…this is what I want to do. I want to be a Hero. I don't want anything else. I want to be able to keep people safe, to protect them. I can't think of anything else I want to truly do with my life."

Midnight took a deep breath then before sighing, "Very well. But…I'll need to see if I can find someone to help you." Recovery Girl spoke up, "I have the numbers of some special therapists who can help. If you're so focused on continuing, then you're going to need to see them." Midnight and Marie let go of each other and bowed to the older Heroine, "Thank you."

Recovery Girl wrote an excuse for Marie to skip the rest of her classes for the day, and Marie spent the rest of the school day resting in her dorm room. As she lay on her bed, her conflicting emotions raged through her. Hope and despair battled inside her mind and soul, but by the time everyone else returned to the dorm, she was able to hide how she felt.

She met everyone at the common area and when they asked her how she was, Marie quickly came up with the excuse that it was that time of the month, and it was heavier than usual. That killed most inquisitive thoughts people had about her. As the day ended, Marie headed to her room, but Uraraka stopped her. "Marie-chan," she said, "I just want you to know, that if you need to talk to someone, you can open up to us." "Us?" Marie asked. Uraraka explained, "Any of the girls at 2-A or 2-B. We don't abandon our comrades if they need us." Marie smiled at that, "Right, thanks," and went to bed.


	18. Chapter 18: Joey's Incident

**Chapter 18: Joey's Incident**

 **Joey**

After that day that Marie and Joey went on their respective dates, things had started to change for Joey, and the bodyguards were only part of it. Jougo and Rukia now looked at him with new respect of a kind that he didn't like. Joey had wanted to have friends on his own terms, back in America he only told his friends about his Dad's job as a Hero and Marie being a Hero in training after they knew each other for a few months and he knew they were his real friends. But after Marie had saved Jougo and his family, and Jougo told Rukia and Eri about it, Jougo and Rukia now treated him…differently. Almost as if they expected him to be wanting to carry on his 'family tradition' as well.

That was such a wrong idea. As far as he knew, his Dad was the first person in their entire family to ever even have a Quirk, his Grandpa Jerome and Grandma Eloise were Quirkless, Grandpa was a mechanic and Grandma was an accountant for crying out loud, hardly the stuff of Heroes. And even further back, few were like his Dad. His Grandparents had studied the Freeman Family Genealogy extensively. Sure, there were a few firefighters or police officers in previous generations, and military personnel in others, for the most part the generations of the Freemans were just a regular black family only focusing on being good people and keeping the bills paid. He had tried explaining that to them, but still, the two of them acted like Joey was going to be the next All Might or something, or the Ingenium family in Japan. As he walked into school on the second day of the bodyguards arriving, Joey wasn't looking forward to seeing his friends.

Joey took his seat next to Eri and saw that Rukia and Jougo weren't there yet. He looked around and sighed. Eri asked him, "What's wrong, Joey-chan?" The boy turned to the horned girl and asked her, "Eri-chan, do Jougo and Rukia know about your Dad being a Hero?" Eri thought about her answer, "No, not really. I don't think I ever told them." Joey nodded, "Thought so. Okay, a few days ago, my sister went on a date. Her date was cancelled when a bank near the theater she went to was robbed. Marie, her date, Shishida-san and their escort, Vlad King-sensei fought the Villains. Apparently, Jougo and his parents were there, and Marie ended up personally saving them from two of the Villains. At the Hospital, he asked Marie for her autograph, and saw we were related, and now he acts as though we're not from the same planet or something.

"It sucks! I wanted to have normal friends, not some fan club or something!" the exasperated boy finally blurted out, drawing all the other student's attention. Joey slumped down in his desk and wished he had an Invisibility Quirk. About five minutes after his outburst, Rukia and Jougo arrived, bearing gifts. "Hey, Joey-sama," Jougo started and Joey finally said, "Stop. Please." That got him really quiet. Joey was about to continue, but then Ono-sensei arrived, and class began. That was a day filled with tests and quizzes, so Joey and his friends didn't have a chance to talk to each other again until lunch. As they sat down, Joey confronted Jougo. The pink-eyed, purple-haired boy looked wary of him as Joey said, "Jougo, please stop." Jougo looked at him curiously, "Stop what?"

"Stop calling me Joey-sama, and you didn't have to buy a present, and you're acting like I'm somehow different than before. I know that my big sister saved you…but you don't owe me anything. I just want us to be friends, like normal people. Okay?" Jougo looked at him and said, "Oh… Okay." Joey nodded, then asked, "What's with the presents?" Jougo looked at the box he had and said, "I got a box of chocolates for Marie-nee-sama, I was hoping you could give them to her." Joey nodded, "Oh…Okay. Yeah, I'll do that. But she doesn't eat a lot of sugar, so she might give it to her classmates instead, just so you know."

"That's okay," Jougo said. Joey turned to Rukia, who opened her box and said, "I just made some candy apples for us to share is all. Nothing to do with you." Joey looked at her and stopped before quietly saying, "Oh." Rukia laughed then, "You seriously thought these were all for you? Why?" Joey fumbled in English, "Well uh you and Jougo…" before he remembered to speak in Japanese, "You and Jougo were both acting so weird lately I thought you were gonna 'hero worship' me like he was doing…and stuff…" "No, not really," the mud girl said, "I just didn't know what you were gonna do. My Uncle Gouda works in America and has met some really…mean people there. I wasn't sure how you'd act after your big sister saved Jougo-kun." The kids shared the candy apples and as he ate, Joey felt himself starting to relax more. Japan was different from America, but he still had friends here.

The day passed by normally, Kalisha, working as the Art Teacher, had the children look at pictures of trees from around the world and let them choose which one they would paint. Joey chose the cherry blossom tree and was halfway done with it by the time class was over. Kalisha looked over the pictures and said, "Very good. We will finish this tomorrow, and when they're dry you may take them home to your parents." The students left, but Joey was last and Kalisha asked him, "Joseph, are you alright?" Joey looked at her and nodded. "If you're worried about anything, we can talk," she said, "Kayama-san told me about troubles you've been having adjusting. I just want you to know that you have an ear ready to listen."

Joey looked into the old Heroine's eyes and saw that she was being completely sincere. "I am here to keep you safe, to me that means making sure your body and mind are healthy and happy. Alright?" Joey smiled up at her and said, "Alright." Kalisha said, "Hurry, Physical Education starts soon." Joey nodded and hurried to the school's locker rooms to change.

Gym with Springer as the Assistant Coach was…hard. The Springing Heroine had them running laps for five minutes before spending five more minutes stretching, and then the hard part started. One minute doesn't sound like much, until you need to spend all sixty seconds doing pushups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks, for three rounds of each exercise. After the warmups were done, the kids were exhausted, and giving thanks to every deity they knew when she gave them a five-minute break to stretch before moving on to the day's real activity, a game of dodgeball.

Joey was actually doing fairly well at it, managing to hit that jerk Saito and another student while dodging other people's balls. He was remembering watching his Dad and Marie train where he threw baseballs at her and she would dodge them. It was her idea to learn how to dodge better, she got it from a horror fantasy series, _The Dresden Files_. Joey was running without a ball, barely avoiding them as he was waiting for a slow ball to come his way that he could catch. He was so focused on the balls that he didn't watch where he was going and ran straight into Eri!

They hit each other head-first and were angled just right that Eri's horn cut open Joey's forehead! Joey screamed in pain as his eyes seemed to fill with blood as Coach Takahashi quickly blew his whistle to stop the game. "Joey-chan! I'm sorry!" Eri yelled as Coach Takahashi put a towel to Joey's head. Joey was trying not to cry, trying to suck up his tears like he had seen Marie do whenever she got hurt. He mostly succeeded and said, "It's…okay…Eri-chan." Springer took over, holding the towel to Joey's head while Coach Takahashi looked Eri over. "You'll have a little bump on your head, but nothing some ice should fix that," he told Eri. Coach Takahashi turned to Joey and Springer and told Springer, "Take Josefu-chan to the Nurse's Office, he might need stitches. If Nurse Haruko says he does, then call his Mother, alright?" Springer nodded as she took Joey's hand and led him to the Nurse's Office.

Nurse Haruko was an old lady with blue eyes, the third eye in the middle of her forehead, who didn't look a day under one-hundred years old. She carefully looked Joey over as she washed the blood off his forehead and wrapped his head in a bandage. "Call his Mother, he will need stitches for this cut. You'll also have a nasty bump, but after you're stitched up then all you'll need is some ice," Nurse Haruko said as she finished bandaging Joey's head. Joey said, "Alright," and Nurse Haruko had him lay down on the cot in the Nurse's Office, grabbing a manga to read so that he wouldn't fall asleep. It was interesting, about the inner workings of the human body with all the cells personified. He was deeply into it, when suddenly the door opened and Joey saw Midnight there, in full costume!

"Oh no…" Joey whimpered as she quickly ran to him and picked him up. "Are you alright?! Is it still bleeding!? Does it hurt!? Are you woozy!?" She was speaking so fast that Joey soon lost track of what she was saying as the Eighteen Plus Hero quickly left the school. Joey quickly said, "Nurse Haruko said all I need is some stitches and ice!" But by then the damage was done, Midnight had been seen by nearly everyone in the school since she was hard to forget. Joey kept his face hidden as he was carried out.

He was silent on the taxi drive to the Hospital, too embarrassed to talk. When they got to the Hospital, he answered the doctor's questions clearly and soon was given an anesthetic. When he woke up, he was back in Midnight's apartment. They were on the couch and she had rested his head on her lap. "How do you feel, Joey?" Midnight asked him in English. Joey groaned as he got up from her lap. He looked at her, he was angry, everyone knew who she was, had seen her take him. The boy looked up, he wanted to yell at her, curse her, tell her he hated her. But then he saw her face.

Her blue eyes were filled with fear, and love and concern for him. It reminded him of the look his Mother had whenever he fell down, or scraped his knees, or bumped his head. It finally hit him then, how much she really cared. She looked so much like his Mother then, he forgot who she really was, "Mom…" Midnight smiled at him then, "I bet you're hungry. I think if we hurry, we can get to the school and get a pizza to eat with Marie." Joey smiled at that, "Okay." For the first time in what felt like forever, Joey felt something deep inside himself. He felt like everything might be alright, it would all work out.

 **Author's Note: Next Chapter will have more action with Marie, I promise.**


	19. Chapter 19: Wolfheart's Determination

**Chapter 19: Wolfheart's Determination**

 **Wolfheart**

The school day after Marie's outburst went by as normal, for her, until Aizawa announced that they were going to do a Rescue Exercise. Everyone got dressed in their Hero Costumes and needed to take a bus to reach the Rescue Training Ground, or, as Wolfheart the Second learned, the USJ: Unforeseen Simulation Joint. Marie sat down next to Kirishima and listened to him recount how last year the then Class 1-A students had been attacked by the League of Villains, and how All Might had rescued them in the nick of time, defeating a giant monster called a Noumu and buying time for the other teachers to drive the villains the students hadn't defeated themselves. Marie listened closely as he talked about teaming up with Bakugou to defeat villains, trying to picture Bakugou's techniques in her mind. She knew she would face him one day in a fight; and wanted to be ready to beat him.

"Yeah," Kirishima finished his story, "That was one of the craziest days we ever had in the school." Marie nodded, "Sounds like it. Honestly, nothing like that happened to me. My school last year was all normal, no interruptions or invasions. Just training and studying my fine ass off to stay among the top ten percent of students." Kirishima nodded, "I'd say it worked out best for you then. The school's really tightened things up since then, so I'm pretty sure we'll get through this normally." Marie laughed, "Normal, hah! With this group of awesome oddballs? This'll be a fun day no matter what happens. And if it's a competition, I'm gonna work even harder to pass, and if I'm up against Bakugou…" the American girl laughed low then, "If I'm against Bakugou on this Rescue Exercise…Oh I'm gonna really enjoy taking that overstuffed firecracker down."

Marie smelled Kirishima sweat a little as he said, "Sheesh, there's no reason to be so aggressive. I know that Bakugou isn't the easiest guy to like…but don't you think you're taking things a little too far?" Marie snorted, "That asshole disgraces the word 'Hero'. Back home he wouldn't have lasted the first semester with his crappy attitude." She smelled Bakugou's aggression towards her and smirked as she turned in what she was sure was his direction and gave him a broad smile that said, 'screw you'. "Freeman," Aizawa said in a warning tone of voice, "Don't start." "Yes, sir," Marie said and sat down quietly face forward for the rest of the ride.

They entered the USJ building and Marie smelled something…not normal. There was a person in some kind of space suit, but underneath the space suit she couldn't tell who, or what they were. She smelled…nothing, a complete void. Even Tokoyami had a scent from his body, even if his Dark Shadow Quirk didn't. But this person…nothing. It was…disconcerting, even the air and water had trace elements of scents, but this…being had no scent whatsoever, she wouldn't even be able to detect them if not for the smell of their space suit. "Welcome back everyone! It's so good to see you all, along with our new addition," a high-pitched voice said from what sounded like a radio. "It's good to see you again, Thirteen-sensei!" Everyone else greeted the teacher, and Marie quickly said, "It's nice to meet you, Thirteen-sensei!"

"You must be Freeman-chan, nice to meet you. Now that introductions are made, let's get started on our Rescue Training," Thirteen said, "Throughout the various stages and simulations here, there are a number of 'victims' that you must rescue. You students will do this by working in seven teams of three Heroes each. You all remember your License Exams? You will be judged using the same standards, on your effectiveness in the rescue, as well as how you treat the victims. Do you understand?" The whole class said, "Understood, Thirteen-sensei." Thirteen then said, "Then step forward and pick a ball to determine your teams. Each ball as a number between one and seven, those with matching balls will be teammates."

One by one everyone went to a stand with a box in it and picked out a rubber ball. Marie was the eleventh person and pulled out her ball. She lifted it up and said, "Okay, who am I with?" "Right here, Marie-chan!" Toru cheerily said and Marie went over to her. "We're lucky number seven!" Toru told Marie. "Did you say 'seven'? I guess that makes me the last part of this trio," Kaminari said as he walked up. "Alright! We got this!" Marie said as she held up her hands and Toru and Kaminari both high fived her.

"Now that your teams are assembled, next will be your Disaster Zone. One person come up and claim a piece of paper with the name of your Disaster Zone. You'll have five minutes to determine your strategies. Because there are six Disaster Zones and seven teams, if two teams have picked the same Zones then I will choose which team goes first. Be aware, you will face opponents this time around," Thirteen announced, "You need to rescue the victims while keeping them safe from the enemies." The teams all had someone pick a piece of paper from a bowl Aizawa was holding and took it to their teams. "Oh man…looks like we got the Ruins Zone," Kaminari said as he got back with Marie and Toru.

"Sounds tricky," Marie said. "It's really tough from what Kirishima told me. You never know if the floors or ceilings is safe there, if you're not careful, you'll regret it." Marie nodded, and Thirteen said, "Alright now, Team One will go to the Conflagration Zone, Team Two will go to the Mountain Zone and Team Three will go there after them, Team Four will go to the Flood Zone, Team Five gets the Landslide Zone, Team Six will head to the Downpour Zone and finally, Team Seven goes to the Ruins Zone. Now, all Teams except Team Three will be sent to their Disaster Zones." The sound of several carts went out and Marie went on one with Kaminari and Toru while everyone else went on carts themselves.

Marie didn't smell any human driving the cart and realized it was being driven by a robot. _Holy SHIT! This school has everything! No wonder Dad wanted me to come here if something happened to him and Mom, when I return home after graduating, I'll be ready for anything!_ "So, Marie, we got a few minutes, you mind telling me about your date with Shishida?" Toru said as they were being driven to their Disaster Zone. "It was short," Marie said, and described what happened after the movie. She was finishing up by telling about what happened as she, Vlad King, and Shishida were waiting in the Hospital.

"Shishida and me had a little heart to heart afterwards and he said that we were just too different for a relationship. He was right, he's a nice guy, a gentleman in fact, and has a pretty hot bod, but I'm not really looking for a gentleman, and I'm too wild for him," Marie explained. "OOOH, what kind of guy are you looking for?" Toru asked. Marie smiled as she felt Kaminari's eyes on her, sure she had his attention. "He'd have to be a good man, not a boy, but a man. Someone who can be responsible and hardworking, but not a stick in the mud, he needs to be fun to be around, outgoing. Plus, he needs to have some rock-hard muscles, especially his abs. If I can't crack a walnut against his abs, then it's not happening," Marie said with a big smile. That was when the cart arrived at their destination and they had to head out.

Marie sniffed the air as they walked through the Ruins Zone. It smelled like a rotten city complete with trash in the streets, and she could hear a number of buildings, the groan of rusted or fractured steel that could give at any minute. She breathed in deeply, while at the same time paying attention to her ears to try to pinpoint the location of the victims, and the 'Villains' they would have to fight. She trusted Kaminari and Toru would keep watch over her as they walked. She soon found what she was looking for. "Hold on guys," Marie said, "I found where we need to go, generally." Kaminari said, "Way to go, Marie-chan. So, where do we gotta go?" Marie answered, "I'm smelling at least five people in that direction," Marie said, pointing to a point West-by-Southwest from their location, "About three blocks away. I'm also picking up the sounds of robots that way too, but we're too far away for me to tell how many exactly, but we're badly outnumbered."

"We can handle robots no problem," Kaminari said confidently. "Then let's go," Marie said, and the three of them started running in the direction she told them to go. Marie was slightly behind Kaminari and Toru, she could follow their footsteps and avoid running into anything as they went. After about ten minutes of navigating the Ruins, she heard something. "Hold on!" Marie yelled and listened. She heard about four robots approaching. "Alright, four robots are close by. And the smell is stronger, we're close. We should go in a building and try to see if we can do some better recon," she said. "Alright, that's a good idea. Let's get those robots first though," Toru said. Marie smiled as she transformed, feeling her black fur cover her body as her teeth became sharp fangs and fingernails turned into razor-sharp two-inch claws, "Let's get 'em."

Marie charged forward towards the sounds of the robots as Kaminari and Toru tried to catch up. Marie quickly sliced the head off of one robot and caught it before tossing it at a second one. Marie heard as Kaminari's lightning blasted two robots at once, destroying them. Toru finished off the one Marie had hit with the first robot's head using debris from the first three robots to pummel the last one into scrap. Marie paid attention to her ears and soon heard more robots coming, at least a dozen. "We need to hide, now. That building there sounds more structurally sound, so let's go there," Marie pointed to a building to her left and the three Heroes in Training quickly ran inside. "Stairs over there!" Toru declared and Marie and Kaminari followed her lead. After running up five flights of stairs, they stopped running and went further in the building.

"Anyone got an awesome gadget like super-binoculars or something?" Marie asked. "I got that covered. I got some goggles that can work as binoculars, and help me fight," Kaminari proudly said as he went towards a window. Toru commented, "You sure seem on top of things, Marie-chan. You do this a lot in America?" Marie nodded, "About four times, including my Provisional License Exam. Plus, my Dad always stressed caution and making sure you had all the info when dealing with hostage situations. He had dealt with about a dozen hostage situations." She was interrupted when Kaminari went over to the girls.

"Alright," the electric Hero said, "I saw about twelve robots in the building across the street, and one woman tied up, looked like a hostage, plus those robots you heard earlier are still outside. I also saw our 'Villain'." He sounded nervous as he said 'Villain' and Toru gulped, "Don't tell me…" Marie was confused, "Blind transfer student here, don't keep me in suspense." "Sorry, Marie-chan. We're going up against Cementoss-sensei. This Zone is perfect for him, he can literally use the whole Zone against us if he wants to. This is gonna be really hard," Kaminari said. "Hey, we got handcuffs, don't we? That just means we gotta capture him to stop him," Marie said. "Yeah," Toru said, "But Cementoss is a monster! Last year we had exams and Kirishima and Satou were up against him. They didn't last five minutes!"

Marie snorted, "Let me guess, Kirishima charged blindly forward and Satou followed his lead?" Kaminari and Toru's silence spoke volumes. "We're not gonna do that. We're gonna apply some more strategy. We got a werewolf, an electric man, and an invisible woman, we can use that. Toru, Kaminari-san and I will create a distraction, give you an opening to get Cementoss-sensei. Kaminari-san and I will go after the robots, at first, to get them out of your way. After I think they're running low, I'll join you while Kaminari-san finishes off the robots, in case Cementoss-sensei catches on to the plan. Then we can save the hostages with ease. Sound good?" "Sounds good to me," Kaminari said. "I'm in," Toru agreed. Marie put her hand down, "Then bring it in." Kaminari and Toru put their hands over Marie's and Marie said, "Let's go!"

 **Chargebolt**

Marie and Denki quickly ran out of the building, right in front of three robots. Denki quickly blasted one while Marie ran at two and sliced them in half with her claws, then crushed their heads beneath her feet. Marie then tore a shield arm off of one robot just in time as more approached. The robots started shooting blobs of goo at Marie and Denki, and Marie used the severed robot arm to protect them both. "Cover me," Denki told Marie as he shot off two discs at the building the robots came from. He saw six robots and waited. "Hurry up, Kaminari-kun, this arm isn't gonna last much longer!" Marie yelled. Denki saw his chance and let loose with his electricity.

His electrical blasts hit his discs, tearing through the six attacking robots along the way. Marie smiled as she said, "Good job, partner." Marie then turned and tossed the arm behind her, destroying a robot that was behind them. "Oh crap!" Denki yelled as more robots appeared in front. Denki quickly blasted two before having to duck some goo balls. From his position lying on his stomach he shot two more discs and quickly blasted them with electricity. His lightning hit the discs and then converged between them, destroying the robots in front. Denki turned around to see Marie had already destroyed three robots, and then lift up a fourth and throw it into the last one, destroying both. Marie let loose a loud howl of victory.

"I'm gonna head up through the outside, you go from the inside!" Marie told him. "Got it!" Denki said as he ran inside. Before he went in, he saw Marie jump nearly twenty feet into the air before shoving her claws in the side of the building and start to climb up. "Damn, that's hot…" Denki accidentally said out loud before remembering his mission; and heading inside.

 **Invisible Girl**

Just like Marie had planned, Toru ran past the robots while Kaminari and Marie distracted them. She was silent as the grave as she went, choosing to go up the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. In a few minutes the Invisible Girl heard Cementoss-sensei's heavy footsteps. Luckily, the door was already open, and Toru went in, only to see Cementoss-sensei himself. Toru quickly held her breath and stood stock still. Cementoss-sensei didn't seem to sense her as he went over to the 'hostages'. There were four of them, and Toru recognized three of them as the 'professional victims' from the Provisional License Exam. They were in a cage molded out of cement, meaning that Toru wouldn't be able to free them by herself.

She waited until Cementoss-sensei's back was turned, and then quickly ran at him and grabbed his legs from behind. Cementoss-sensei yelled in surprise as she finished her double-leg takedown and got on top of him, grabbing one of his arms and getting him into an armlock. "I got you now, Cementoss-sensei!" Toru declared. "That's a good hold, Hagakure-chan," Cementoss-sensei said, but then his voice got serious, "But you forgot something." "Huh?" Toru said, only for something to hit the back of her head, making her let go. Toru barely got up in time to avoid the hole that Cementoss-sensei made at where she had been. Columns started descending from the ceilings of the buildings and Toru had to run to avoid getting hit again. While she was thus occupied, Cementoss-sensei secured the 'hostages' by turning their cement cage into a cube, trapping them.

Toru spotted Marie coming in through a window behind Cementoss-sensei and knew she had to distract their teacher. She quickly yelled, "Come on, Sensei! I thought you were better than this." The next column that descended was a centimeter from Toru. She quickly jumped back and laughed, "Missed me by a mile!" That was when a column from the wall behind her shot out, hitting her back good. "AUGH!" she yelled as she was knocked down and the wind was driven out of her. "I'm coming, Toru!" Marie yelled as she charged at Cementoss-sensei.

The Pro-Hero quickly turned and managed to block Marie's attack with a wall of cement. Marie stopped herself from hitting it and instead kicked it hard, shattering it. Cementoss-sensei avoided Marie's claws as she went on the offensive. Toru regained her breath while Marie fought Cementoss-sensei and ran at him from behind. She was about to lay down on all fours to trip him up, but Cementoss-sensei stopped before he could trip over her and caught Marie's left arm, and then right arm. He quickly lifted her up and tossed her aside. Marie hit a wall and Cementoss-sensei quickly wrapped her up in cement. Marie struggled to break out but couldn't, the cement was extra thick. Marie stopped struggling then and said, "Cementoss-sensei, I knew I probably couldn't beat you like this. Thank you for confirming that. But; I'm not beaten yet!"

Toru watched as Marie's body transformed, her head became exactly like a wolf's as her limbs grew longer along with her muscles. With a loud howl, Marie tore out of her cement bindings and charged at Cementoss-sensei. Cementoss-sensei brought up three walls between them, but Marie rammed through them like it was nothing. Cementoss-sensei twisted enough to avoid getting clawed, but still got a decent scratch across his chest. Marie then dodged a cement column from above and kicked his legs out from under him then got on top of Cementoss-sensei. She quickly grabbed her handcuffs and handcuffed their teacher just as Kaminari arrived. Marie got off of Cementoss-sensei and tore up the cement cube the 'hostages' were in. Kaminari asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"We're fine," one woman said, "But our son's legs were broken." The 'hostage' then started to cry, "MOMMAAA! IT HUUURRRRRTTTTSSSSS!" "Crap…uh…Stretcher, we need a stretcher!" Toru quickly yelled. She then thought of the robots. "Kaminari-kun, Marie-chan, you need to go back and grab a shield arm from one of the robots, we'll use it as a stretcher!" she said. Marie nodded her wolf head and ran down the stairs. Toru and Kaminari checked and saw that none of the other 'hostages' were 'injured'. Marie soon arrived with a robot's severed shield arm and put the 'wounded child' on it. Kaminari and Toru lifted the arm up and used it as a stretcher while Marie secured Cementoss-sensei and held on to him.

The three Heroes in Training made their way out of the Ruins Zone, luckily it seemed that everything was clear, and they quickly got out to see Thirteen-sensei waiting for them. "Good job, Team Seven. You saved the victims and captured the Villain as well. You're the last group to finish as well, just in time," Thirteen-sensei congratulated. Marie returned to her normal form and uncuffed Cementoss-sensei before saying, "Damn…I thought we were pretty fast." "You were; however, two teams were captured, Teams Four and One," Thirteen-sensei explained. "Who were in those Teams again?" Marie asked, sounding very tired. "Team Four were Mineta-kun, Ojiro-kun and Sero-kun, while Team One were Todoroki-kun, Ochako-chan, and Koda-kun," Toru said, "Who were they against, Thirteen-sensei?" As they all got on the cart, Thirteen-sensei explained, "Team Four was pitted against Vlad King-san, while Team One was captured by Midnight-san."

"Heh," Marie chuckled, "Go Mom…" The American girl sighed and leaned back in her chair on the cart. The three of them all left the USJ together with their classmates and the bus ride was pretty uneventful, everyone was tired from this test. Toru noted that Ochako-chan and Midoriya-kun were both sharing seats and smiled broadly. She smiled a little more when she noticed that Marie was sharing a seat with Kaminari-kun and was sleeping on his shoulder on the ride back to the Dorms. When they arrived, a blushing Kaminari-kun woke up Marie. Marie yawned and said, "Thanks, Kaminari-san. Using my Ultimate Transformation really takes a lot out of me. I'll probably need a big dinner to make up for it." "Y-You do that, I need to go to the Gym," Kaminari said as they went into the Dorms. Toru snuck up beside Marie and happily said, "I think he's interested in you…" Marie just smiled, "Maybe I'll give him a shot. That stopped Toru in her tracks, all she could think was, _Wow…That's one girl with zero confidence issues._

 **Author's Note: Next Chapter I get back to Pyromaniac.**


	20. Chapter 20: Pyromaniac Makes a Move

**Chapter 20: Pyromaniac Makes a Move**

 **Pyromaniac**

Pyromaniac made it to Japan, no problem, and was soon hooked up with one of the big movers there with what was left of his cash, an old dude named 'Giran'. Pyromaniac had to do a few jobs for the old man, low level stuff in order to prove he was trustworthy. It pissed off the Villain to have to do this, starting from square one again, but he knew that in order to join a crew he needed to show he was dependable, otherwise no one would deal with him. It took a while to build up that trust, unless he had someone with influence in his corner. Giran was one of the best at that according to the smuggler who got him to Japan.

Giran had set him up with an apartment and some clothes, the clothes were even fireproof so he wouldn't have to spend a lot of money replacing them. Back in America he could never find fireproof clothes that didn't make him stand out. He needed to be stealthy for when he pulled off his jobs, so nobody saw him coming, until the fires started. Then in all the chaos, when the Heroes and First Responders focused on saving the 'poor innocents', he could get away. The clothes he had now looked like an ordinary red hoodie with black pants and matching sneakers, but could withstand his hottest flames, Giran had him test the clothes himself. He couldn't wait to really cut loose.

At the moment, he was busy doing pull-ups, wearing nothing but a giant smile on his face. "Twenty-five…twenty-six…twenty-seven…twenty-eight…tw-enty-ni-ne…THIRTY!" he said as he finished his last set of pull-ups and then went down and started running in place. His fights against Wolfheart had taught him the value of a strong body, he had worked hard to get this strong, he needed to maintain it in case he fought anyone else as good as him. He almost regretted having killed his old nemesis, opponents as good as him were rare. Wolfheart made up for his Quirk's weakness with loads of practice and determination, so many of their battle had nearly ended with Pyromaniac's capture that he could only chalk up his own skill with his Quirk to how he had stayed free.

But now that Wolfheart was nothing but a charred corpse, he missed the old thrill and even fear, yes, fear, that had coursed through him as they fought. He hoped Japan still had Heroes that good, it would be all the more thrilling to face another so good.

He was still running in place and working up a sweat when there was a knock at his door. Pyromaniac stopped and put his fireproof pants on before saying the codeword Giran had given him, "Zeni." Giran replied, "Yen," and Pyromaniac let him in. The old black-market dealer walked in and lit a cigarette with his gun lighter. He puffed a few times and looked around the apartment. "You'd think you would have done something by now. At least hired a girl or two for fun," Giran said. Pyromaniac just pulled out a cigarette of his own and lit it with some fire from his thumb before saying, "The local girls are too small for my tastes. And I can't go too far. Enough about my sex life, you got a job for me?"

Giran nodded, "Yeah, this is the big one. You pull this off, and I can introduce you to some of my friends. They'll help you out from there. They were busy with some…competition, but that's been dealt with, and joining them will become a lot harder if you don't get signed up fast." Pyromaniac nodded as he got the rest of his clothes on and said, "Just tell me who needs to die and how."

 ** _Later That Night_**

Pyromaniac quietly walked through the crowd; this was his chance. He had to act as a distraction for the League of Villains. They were going to rob an armored truck, they had the route planned and everything, but the trap was in an alternate route from the one that this particular security company used. He had to make sure they took the road they wanted. Him going all out would be a great distraction. He checked the time on a nearby clock, he had one minute. He looked around again, no apparent Heroes in sight on patrol. He soon saw the armored car's headlights and smiled, _Showtime._

Pyromaniac summoned a fireball and tossed it into a car that was coming over, making it burst into flames. He did the same thing with three more cars, narrowly dodging the last one. Screams and smoke filled the air as people on fire ran around screaming. Pyromaniac then tossed one last fireball in front of the approaching armored car. The armored car veered to the side and quickly went the way of the alternate route, just as planned. "HALT VILLAIN!" a Hero yelled from behind Pyromaniac. He turned around and saw someone he was hoping and fearing he'd see: Endeavor, Japan's New Number One Hero. Excitement coursed through Pyromaniac as he took his hood off and let his flames wreath around his body.

"Endeavor," Pyromaniac said, and switched to Japanese, "I heard you are the strongest flame wielder to ever live. Let's test that!" Fire roared from his hands, only for Endeavor to sweep his left arm and disperse the flames before it reached him. Endeavor then ran forward like a rhino and Pyromaniac shot fire out his back to match his momentum. The two of them crashed into each other in a brilliant explosion of fire. The two of them were locked in combat, their physical strength seemed to be evenly matched. Endeavor then kicked Pyromaniac back and summoned a spear of fire and tossed it at him. Pyromaniac dodged the fiery spear and tossed three small fireballs in Endeavor's direction. Endeavor dodged one and redirected the others into the sky where they soon puttered out.

 _This is taking too long, and I can't risk him beating me. Need a distraction, fast,_ Pyromaniac's thoughts were interrupted when Endeavor rocketed towards him and slammed a powerful elbow in his face, knocking out two of his teeth. Endeavor flew up ten feet and tried a fire charged axe kick that Pyromaniac barely avoided. Pyromaniac saw a chance and kicked Endeavor's right knee, hard. Endeavor buckled but didn't fall, but at least it gave Pyromaniac time to get up. He was bout to try to fly away, when the foulest smelling…STUFF he ever tasted erupted from his mouth and engulfed him completely.

The next thing he knew, he was face down on the floor of an empty warehouse with three people staring at him. "Express delivery. Not bad," one male voice said in Japanese. Pyromaniac saw that the guy looked like a ninja turtle, a really young one in grungy clothes but armed to the teeth with various…blades. Sitting next to him was a grinning blonde schoolgirl whose hair looked like a mess. The schoolgirl waved at Pyromaniac and cheerily said, "Konnichiwa!" The last man looked like he should have been buried, most of his skin looked charred black. The only real sign of life from the last guy was in his blue eyes that were examining Pyromaniac. "Where am I? And what the Hell was that shit?" Pyromaniac asked. "You're at our temporary base. That should change soon though," the charred looking guy said, "That 'shit' was our main way of getting out of tight situations. You get used to it after a while."

"Welcome, comrade, to the League of Villains!" the ninja turtle happily said, "I am Spinner, this is Toga, and this is Dabi. Our esteemed leader, Shigaraki, will be here soon with our comrade Twice, along with the loot." The smell from earlier soon made its presence known, and about a dozen people arrived. One wore a black trench coat and a severed hand on his face while the other dozen wore matching black outfits with white boots and half white mask. The ones wearing black were holding heavy bags of loot and one said, "SPECIAL DELIVERY! OUR RENT PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED!" "YAY!" the girl, Toga, said as she grabbed a bag, "Now we can get a nice place with real beds!"

"Later, Toga," the one with the hand on his face said. He walked closer to Pyromaniac, and Pyromaniac noticed that 'Mr. Handy' had silver hair and red eyes. "So, you're that American, Pyromaniac. You did a good job. Welcome to the League of Villains," 'Mr. Handy' said. "I guess you're the boss," Pyromaniac said. "You'd guess right," 'Mr. Handy' said. "My name is Shigaraki Tomura, and I am the leader here. Remember that, and we shouldn't have any problems." Shigaraki then put a hand on a crate that was nearby, and the crate disintegrated to dust in seconds, "Understand?"

Pyromaniac nodded, "Got it, Boss."

 **Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has been following this story. I'm going to be taking a little break to work on another project, but I'll return to this story in time. Thanks to everyone who has been following, reading, and reviewing 'An American Werewolf in U.A.' Your support means a lot to me.**


	21. Chapter 21:Preparing for the Sports Fest

**Chapter 21: Preparing for the Sports Festival**

 **Wolfheart**

The day went by as normal for Marie until the end of the day when Aizawa made an announcement. "Now then, as you all might be aware, in three weeks the Sports Festival starts," he announced. All the Class 2-A students cheered so loudly that Marie had to cover her sensitive ears. They were abruptly silenced by a harsh glare from Aizawa and he continued, "The Second Year Sports Festival will be even harder than the First Year was. You'll be pushed even harder than before, so make sure you train diligently. As an added incentive, anyone who doesn't reach the Second Stage of the Festival will have to go through remedial training with me. Am I understood?" "YES SENSEI!" everyone yelled in a mixture of excitement and fear. The bell rang and Aizawa said, "Class dismissed."

Marie stood up and caught Ochako, "Hey, Ochako-chan, what does the Sports Festival entail?" The gravity girl took a second to think, "For this year I don't know, but last year was a three-stage competition. First there was a race through an obstacle course. The obstacles were robots, some of them five stories tall, a canyon we had to cross, and finally a minefield." Marie yelled in English, "WHAT THE HELL!? A MINEFIELD!?" Ochako quickly said, "They weren't real mines, they were non-lethal, they'd just blast you back far, not kill you!" Marie sighed in relief before answering in Japanese, "Oh, alright. Continue."

Ochako resumed speaking, "After the obstacle course, the lead forty-two students were divided into teams for a cavalry battle." Marie asked, "What's a cavalry battle?" Ochako looked at her, "You really don't know?" Marie shook her head. "Basically, we were given headbands worth a number of points depending on how we placed in the obstacle course. In a cavalry battle, we were in teams from two to four, with one person acting as the leader that the others had to hold up. We would fight to see who could grab the most headbands, that one was really tricky. The four teams who had collected the most points won, and went on to the final round, a tournament." Marie nodded at this and smiled as she and Ochako walked down the halls to the dorms. "Oh hell yeah, now I think that's something I can do… Hey! I got an idea!"

"What?" Ochako asked. "Why don't the girls get together and train with each other? Work out, practice with our Quirks, help each other out, and stuff?" Marie suggested. "I don't know…some of the other girls might think it's a good idea, but it also kind of sounds like a way for the competition to scout you out too. You gotta remember, we're going to be competing against each other in the Sports Festival. It'd suck to practice some new super moves, only to have to spar with someone who already knew about them, and figured out a way to beat it," Ochako said. Marie nodded, "Yeah, makes sense." The girls got to the dorms, and Marie went straight to her room to stretch before she changed into her workout clothes, grey t-shirt and sweatpants with sneakers and socks, and headed for the dorm's gym.

She went straight for the barbell and checked the weights. There were already about forty kilograms on the barbell. She went to the weights and decided to add on more until she had an even one-hundred-forty kilograms, about three-hundred-and-eight pounds. Marie set it down and started doing her reps. It was comforting to feel the burn and push herself. After doing about eight sets of ten reps, she stopped for a minute, and then sat up and rolled her shoulders before continuing, getting through a ninth set, feeling her arms tiring and her body covered in sweat. She took a deep breath and went for one more set. By the end she was struggling to get the barbell up for one more rep, but she dug deep and finished it.

After this, Marie went to a water fountain and got some much-needed water, she was already sweating like a pig. After wiping down the equipment, Marie went to the dumbbells and found a set that was 23 kilograms, about 50 pounds, and started doing shoulder lifts, pushing herself like she had with the barbell until she completed ten sets of ten. She then bent down until her body was at a right angle and started doing triceps curls, ten sets of ten. For her last exercise she did normal bicep curls before putting the dumbbells down. Marie was determined to workout her upper body today, then lower body tomorrow, and focus only on cardio the third day, and repeat until she rested on the seventh day. She was going to push herself harder than ever before.

The pull-up bar was Marie's next destination. She reached up and grabbed the bar, pulling herself up until her chest touched the bar. She repeated this feat forty more times before letting go with her right hand and did twenty one-armed chin-ups, then repeated with her right hand. "That was awesome, Marie-chan!" Kaminari said behind her. Marie had been so focused on her workout that she hadn't noticed the other students in the gym. The girl smiled and said, "Then watch this." Focusing, Marie grabbed the bar with both hands again and with all her core strength, Marie pulled her body up until she was hanging upside down. She then wrapped her legs around the pull-up bar and started doing hanging sit-ups.

This was a lot more difficult than she thought, she hadn't done this exercise before. She still persisted though, until she finally got through fifty hanging sit-ups. Marie got off the pull-up bar then and gasped. "You alright?" Ashido asked. "Yeah, I just need to get some water and stretch a little bit," Marie said. Ashido led her to the water fountain where Marie got a drink and took a few minutes to stretch out her upper body. She'd never felt this tense before, but she took it as a sign her workout was working. After cracking her neck, Marie asked, "Is there someplace I can do some pushups and stuff?" "I can help with that!" Kaminari eagerly said. Marie offered her hand and the electricity wielder happily took it, leading Marie over to a mat. "Hey, Kaminari-kun," she then said, "I got an idea." "What's your idea?" Kaminari asked.

"I say we partner up for this, help each other out. I'll even throw in a little wager," Marie told him. "What kind of wager?" Kaminari asked. "Not much…" Marie coyly said, "But…if you can do about…fifty sit-ups and pushups with me…I'll give you something you'll like." "That'll be easy for me," Kaminari confidently said. Marie nodded and got into position to do pushups, then decided to change things by going on her fingertips. "What are you doing?" Kaminari asked. "I do pushups like this because of my Quirk. If my fingers aren't strong then my claws aren't much use. How do you think I can climb up buildings and stuff? It's all finger strength. You don't have to do these, just keep up with my pace," Marie told him. "…okay," Kaminari said and got in front of Marie, facing her to do partner pushups.

Marie did her pushups slowly, and Kaminari had to slowdown to keep up with her. She could smell the sweat coming off of him as he struggled to keep up with a slow pace of pushups, but he didn't give up and after two minutes, they had done fifty slow pushups. Marie stopped and landed on her back, "You ever do partner sit-ups?" Kaminari took a second to catch his breath before answering, "Not really." "Alright, basically, we wrap our feet together, get into position with your ankles crossing mine," Marie explained. Kaminari did as she said with his ankles on the outside of Marie's. Marie twisted her feet and said, "Now move your feet inwards so you can get a good grip on me." Kaminari followed her instructions and Marie said, "Now let's do this!"

Marie and Kaminari did their sit-ups as fast as they could go. Marie could tell that she was too fast for Kaminari, who despite giving it his all was always just a small fraction of a second slower than she was. But he still kept it up until he made it to fifty. Marie lay back and said, "Well, you did it Kaminari. You want your prize now or later?" "Later, I think," Kaminari said between gasps for air. "Done, after we're all cleaned up, I'll give it to you," she said with a smile. She sat up and turned her head in his direction, "I think you'll like it a lot."

She left him to breathe and headed to a stationary bike machine, where she set it to its maximum resistance and started pedaling her heart out. There was no thinking involved, she was just a pedaling machine working her heart out to the max. It was freeing, focusing on nothing but pedaling, and for a while she completely forgot everything else, her Hero career, her school, her parents, her only thought was of going as hard and fast as she could.

Eventually she was snapped out of it when she heard Toru say, "Hey, Marie, mind letting someone else on there?" "Huh?" Marie said, then finally stopped pedaling. "Yeah…you've been on this bike for an hour," Toru explained. "Really?" Marie asked, but then felt that her legs had turned to jelly and realized the invisible girl was right. "Oh…sorry," she said as she shakily got off the stationary bike. "It's cool, now I know how you got those muscles," Toru said, "Though I think you should cool off now, you're just drenched in sweat." Marie tiredly nodded and headed the mats to cool off with twenty minutes of stretches. Her entire body ached as she stretched, but she pushed through anyway, knowing that if she didn't stretch then she'd regret it in the morning.

There was one more exercise Marie wanted to do before she took a shower. She left the gym and headed out to the front yard of the dorms and listened and smelled for anyone. No one was in her way, so she immediately started moving. Despite her tiredness, Marie put her heart into her movements as she performed the forms she had been taught since childhood. Every block, every punch, every kick she made to imagined enemies would have caused serious injuries to a real person. After moving through all her forms, Marie transformed and did all of them, even faster and with more power. Every blow she landed to the air could have potentially killed someone with her superhuman power.

By the time she was done moving through her forms, Marie could feel her fur covered body start to create steam from her elevated body heat, and she returned to normal before going back into the dorms, making a beeline for the kitchen where she had three glasses of water. "Hi, Marie-nee-chan," she heard Eri say from behind her. Marie turned around and said, "Hey, Eri-chan. I don't smell Joey with you, where is he?" Eri explained, "Joey-chan had to go home. Midnight-sensei said that you were busy training for the Sports Festival and shouldn't be interrupted. She told me to tell you to call him before you go to bed. I saw you practicing outside, I think you'll do really good at the Sports Festival!" Marie nodded, "Think I can win it?" Eri answered honestly, "No. Not with Deku-nii-san there, he'll win, I know it!"

"Maybe," Marie said, "He is pretty powerful, it's like his Quirk is nothing except raw power…" Marie shook her head, "I need to go to sleep, see you later, Eri-chan." "Goodnight, Marie-nee-chan," Eri said and Marie made her way back to her room. Along the way, she made a detour to Kaminari's room and smelled that he was inside it. She knocked on the door and smiled a little as she leaned on his doorway. Kaminari answered the door and she asked, "You ready for your prize?" Kaminari swallowed a little. "Uh…isn't this a little fast?" the electrical hero-in-training said. "I guess it is…unless you want a girlfriend," Marie responded.

She heard Kaminari's heart speeding up and smelled some of his lustful pheromones go off too. "R-really?" he asked, his voice sounding nervously high. "Calm down now," Marie said, "It's not a marriage proposal or anything, but, yeah. I think you're a good guy, Kaminari, fun to be around. I wouldn't mind being your girlfriend, if you don't mind being my boyfriend." It took a minute for Kaminari to think before he said, "I think I'd like that." Marie nodded and reached out a hand to his face.

She saw that he was nervous, slightly, but had a smile on his face as she got closer and locked their lips together. "See you tomorrow, boyfriend," she said after she finished kissing him, and headed back to her room, feeling a mixture of relief and excitement over everything that was going on.


	22. Chapter 22: Training with Midnight

**Chapter 22: Training with Midnight**

 **Midnight**

It was ten days until the U.A. Sports Festival, and Nemuri only had three more days to decide what to do. She could volunteer as a referee again, or she could not volunteer and instead cheer on her daughter. She was divided because of her circumstances, her Quirk was the best for preventing the students from going too far, barring unforeseen circumstances. However, she wanted to be able to watch Marie and see what she could really do when pushed. She had no doubt that Marie would do well, if determination was the only deciding factor, Marie would easily make first place. However, U.A.'s students were no pushovers, and they had all become even more powerful than they were last year. Marie had a powerful Quirk and had trained hard to master it, but the disadvantages of being a close-range fighter battling against people who controlled fire and ice, explosions, could make their body parts fly around, create and control vines and other such powers were obvious. If she could help her daughter succeed, she would do all within her power.

With this in mind, Nemuri headed straight for Aizawa's classroom once the final bell rang. She made it in time as Marie was walking out, hand in hand with Kaminari. _Ooh, that's my girl,_ the Eighteen Plus Hero thought as she walked up to them. "Marie, are you about to get busy?" she asked. Kaminari's face contorted impressively between a smile and an embarrassed grimace while turning cherry red at the same time and Marie shook her head, "No, just going to get some training in." Nemuri nodded, "That's what I was hoping for. Have you been training with your Quirk at all?" Marie nodded, "I've been training in it, yes." Nemuri then asked, "What about your Ultimate Technique?"

"Not really," Marie admitted. "Come with me then," Nemuri said and took Marie's hand, "We're going to train that Technique to perfection!" Marie then said, "What about Joey!?" That got Nemuri to stop and she said, "You're right… crap… Go to your dorm and change into your training uniform, Joey and I will meet you at your room, alright?" "Got it, Mom," Marie said, she then turned her attention back to Kaminari, "You want in on this, Denki?" Kaminari had what could only be called a dumbfounded look on his face as he started saying, "Hey…uh…ok? Is that alright, Midnight-sensei?" Nemuri wanted to say no; but knew that if she did then accusations of nepotism would result. "That's fine…now that I think about it, it might actually help you both. I'll meet you at your dorms, in your training uniforms," she said, and then headed to her office to grab a coat.

After putting her coat on and putting away her domino mask, Nemuri headed out and called a cab. She had the cabby take her to Joey's school and went up to the front office. Since the incident with Eri and her hasty trip, the secret was out, Joey was the infamous Eighteen Plus Hero's adopted son. To both hers and Joey's relief, the revelation was actually taken rather well. Almost too well according to Joey, he was now more popular than ever, but the boys kept on asking him things he didn't know or want to know the answer to. Nemuri wondered what she could do to help him when she was snapped out of her thoughts by Joey and Eri walking up to her. The woman at the front office said, "Excuse me, Kayama-san, but Aizawa-san said that he was unable to come for Eri-chan and gave permission for you to take her home." Nemuri smiled and said, "Of course, come on, kids, let's go." "YAY!" Eri excitedly yelled as she and Joey headed out and got in the cab with Nemuri.

Nemuri listened as Joey and Eri talked about their school and friends, especially how one, Rukia, was going to have her birthday next week and gave them invitations. After seeing the date, Nemuri made a mental note to make arrangements for Joey to go to Rukia-chan's birthday party. Soon they arrived at U.A., and Nemuri took the kids into the dorms where Aizawa was waiting. "Thanks, Kayama," the tired man said, "I shouldn't have made the last test a written assignment, it took too long for me to do." Eri looked at her adopted father and asked, "Aizawa-tou-san, can we watch Deku-nii-san train?" Aizawa cracked his neck a little as he thought before answering, "Do you have homework?" Eri tried the cute little girl with big eyes look, but Aizawa didn't budge, "If he's still training after you're done with homework, we'll see." Eri sadly nodded, "Yes sir." But she went to get started on homework. Nemuri looked to Joey, and he started doing his homework as well.

Nemuri watched as the two children did their homework, her discreetly looking over Joey's shoulder. Eri and Joey worked together, Eri helping Joey with the Japanese he still struggled with, while Joey helped her with math. Together, they completed their homework within an hour, while Nemuri and Aizawa took a minute to try to relax and have some coffee. While they sat, Aizawa quietly asked, "How are the kids doing?" Nemuri looked to Joey and answered, "We had some issues…I'm not raising them…traditionally. They aren't Japanese, and I know that Marie wants to go back to America after she graduates. Perhaps I've been spoiling them somewhat…but I couldn't love them more even if I had raised them since birth. Marie always knew that, and Joey finally realizes this too. I think we've finally gotten past the worst of it."

Aizawa nodded, then sipped some coffee before saying, "I don't think so, not yet. Not until their enemy is behind bars."

That thought made Nemuri stop as she thought about all she had tried to learn about Donovan Takahashi, aka Pyromaniac. He was clearly a sadistic sociopath who cared for no one but himself. What was worse that according to her research, his sexual excitement made his fire Quirk even stronger. Nemuri was terrified of what he would do to Marie or Joey if he got his hands on them, and what Marie would do if they were to meet. Would Marie blindly charge into the fight? Would she run away? Or worst of all, would she freeze up and be easy prey?

"DONE!" Joey happily said, snapping Nemuri out of her thoughts. He and Eri handed their homework over to their respective parents, and Nemuri and Aizawa checked it. _His Japanese is certainly improving…_ Nemuri thought. Seeing that he had done everything right, Nemuri smiled, "Alright, let's go get Marie and Kaminari-kun. They're training together today." As they headed to the dorms, Joey said, "Isn't Kaminari-nii-san the nutty electro-guy? Are he and Marie dating now?" Nemuri nodded, "Yes to both." Joey made a face, "They're not gonna make out all the time, are they?" Nemuri couldn't help but smile as she rubbed Joey's head, "There's not rule against it, and I don't see any harm in it, as long as it doesn't distract them from their lessons and training."

"Of course, you'd say that," Joey muttered in English, and Nemuri just smirked as they reached the dorms. Marie and Kaminari were on the couch, listening to a Heavy Metal band on Marie's phone, Nemuri saw the band was called 'Organic Shrapnel' and the song was titled, 'Heart of Iron Muscle'. Marie was quietly singing along, and it sounded near the end, as she quietly sang, "…and it will never pierce my Iron Heart…"

Kaminari saw Nemuri and told Marie, "Time to go. That was a pretty badass song, I need to add Organic Shrapnel to my playlist." Marie nodded with a smile as she pocketed her phone and Kaminari took his earplugs back. "Let's go, Field Gamma awaits," Nemuri said, and led the three kids out of the dorms and called for a bus driven by U.A.'s robots to come get them and take them to Field Gamma. Along the way, Marie and Kaminari talked to Joey about the training they had been doing together, mostly working out as a team, and a few hand-to-hand self-defense lessons Marie gave to Kaminari. Kaminari had a smile as he said, "I've been doing a little research about fictional Heroes, from the Pre-Quirk Era. I'm gonna use this training to see if I can do the same things I saw on those old shows."

"We have arrived at our destination," the robot driving the bus announced. Nemuri and the kids left the bus and entered Field Gamma, where Midoriya and All Might were already practicing. Midoriya was like a green blur as he was running and jumping through an obstacle course set up by All Might, who encouraged the young man, "That's it! Keep your power circulating evenly, like your blood flow! Now, use Black Whip!" Midoriya jumped up and a black energy shot out of his hand and wrapped around a combat robot. Midoriya used his Black Whip Quirk to pull the robot to him and then kicked it to pieces. "SAY WHAT!? Marie yelled as she ran over to Midoriya. "Huh?" the sweaty Midoriya said as Marie went over to him, "Are you telling me you have two Quirks!? I told you not to go easy on me when we sparred, and you had two Quirks all this time!? I oughta kick your ass, you big jerk!" Marie pushed Midoriya's shoulder and the green haired boy quickly said, "I didn't mean to lie! It's just that Black Whip isn't completely mastered yet, and when it first came out, it kind of went haywire! I didn't want to risk hurting you or anyone else!" Marie snorted at this and then poked Midoriya in his chest, "You better not hold out on me at the Sports Festival."

With that, Marie left and Nemuri quickly said, "Sorry about that, All Might. You don't mind sharing, do you?" "Go ahead!" the Former Number One Hero said, "We were about to take a quick break anyway!" "Thank you!" Nemuri said, and turned to Marie and Kaminari, "Alright you two, time to start training. Since All Might was good enough to make an obstacle course, I say we borrow it for a bit. Run about three laps through it in a race, and then we'll move on to sparring and Quirk usage." "Got it!" Marie and Kaminari both declared as they went to All Might, who directed them to the beginning of the obstacle course Midoriya had been using.

It was just a basic obstacle course with small pits to jump over, bars to duck, and robots to either destroy or avoid. Nemuri watched as Marie went slowly at first, allowing Kaminari to take the lead while she followed after him. It was obvious what her daughter's reasoning was; Marie's blindness meant she didn't know what was ahead exactly, so she had to rely on others to let her know, follow their scent and sounds to figure out her course. Nemuri's heart was filled with excitement and pride as Marie started to catch up to Kaminari in the second lap around the obstacle course, and finally just as the third lap started, she was ahead of him, the course now obvious to her. Robots that got in her way were easily destroyed by her Quirk's claws and superhuman strength, while all other hazards were easily avoided by her around the third lap.

"GO MARIE!" Joey cheered her on as Marie finally finished the third lap a whole ten seconds ahead of Kaminari. Marie was breathing hard, but not very winded by the obstacle course, while Kaminari was having a harder time catching his breath. "Come on, Denki," Marie encouraged him, "If you wanna be my man, you'll need lots of stamina." Marie got closer to him and whispered something in his ear, something that gave him a look Nemuri knew all too well. Nemuri licked her lips as her inner sadist felt a rush of pride in her daughter.

"Take a few minutes to stretch, and then you're both going to work individually. Kaminari-kun, work on those techniques you talked about before, while Marie, you will work on your Ultimate Technique, focus on making it last and speeding up your transformation," Nemuri ordered. The two students agreed to this, and Marie whispered something in Kaminari's ear that made the boy smile really wide before they put some distance between themselves to practice individually.

Nemuri went to Kaminari first and asked, "What were you hoping to do?" Kaminari explained, "I've looked up some fictional Heroes from the Pre-Quirk Era who had electrical powers, guys named stuff like Black Lightning, Static, Surge, Lightning Lad, Thor and others. They could do stuff like use static electricity to manipulate items, transform their bodies into lightning, or use electricity to make their bodies move faster." Nemuri nodded, "That's a lot, I suggest you focus on only one for now, and master it, if it's possible for you. I've done a lot of research on fictional Quirks, or 'superpowers' as they were called in the Pre-Quirk Era, they were much more fantastic than the reality. Keep that in mind, as well as what happens when you go too hard."

"Yes ma'am," Kaminari agreed, and then thought for a second. Electricity crackled around the boy and his hair spiked up, but he had a look of deep concentration on his face. He started to move and walk around, and the electricity was struggling to keep up. "What is this now?" Nemuri asked him. Kaminari spoke slowly as he concentrated on keeping his lightning around his body, "Black Lightning had a tv show, in it he would power up his punches by making electricity course around his body, almost like making himself a taser." Nemuri nodded, "Keep up the good work, but don't push yourself too hard. I'm expecting you to spar with Marie before today's training is over." "OKAY!" Kaminari said as he made the electricity stop flowing and thought harder.

Nemuri went to Marie, and her daughter was already focusing hard. She had taken off her training outfit's shirt because it was too small when she used her Ultimate Technique. Marie saw Nemuri and Nemuri told her, "Change back now." Marie howled as her taller body steamed and she turned into her regular transformation. Marie stumbled but caught herself. "You need to transform quickly, within a few seconds. In a fight, every second counts. If a transformation takes too long, then you'll be caught off guard and risk severe injury or even death. As of now, your Ultimate Technique takes twenty seconds to pull off. That is far too long. By the time of the Sports Festival, you need to cut it down to at least five seconds, if not shorter." Marie breathed in deeply and said, "Got it."

Marie focused and Nemuri timed her with her phone. The transformation took eighteen seconds. Marie returned to her regular transformation and was breathing heavier than before. "Is this too much? Do you need something?" a concerned Nemuri asked. Marie shook her head, "I just gotta catch my breath. That transformation is really draining. I don't know how much I can improve today, but I'll give it my all." Marie then focused and transformed again, this time it was 17.97 seconds.

So, it went for the next hour, Marie focusing on speeding up her Ultimate Technique's transformation while Kaminari focused on enhancing his strikes with his electricity. Both of them worked hard, and by the time the hour was up, they were both drenched in sweat. All Might and Midoriya continued their own training in the meantime, Midoriya smashing and dodging robots using a combination of his 'Superpower' Quirk and his 'Black Whip' Quirk. By the time Marie and Kaminari's own hour of training was over, Midoriya was moving slightly better, but it was clear he hadn't completely mastered Black Whip, the dang thing would short out when he least expected it or it would move in ways he didn't expect. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt.

Marie was struggling to remain standing, while Kaminari was breathing heavily but was in better shape. Nemuri looked at them both and asked, "Tell me the truth, do you think you can handle a two-minute sparring match? You've both worked hard, there's no shame in resting when you're exhausted." Marie looked like she wanted to keep going, but Kaminari said, "I'm done. Sorry, but I can't do anymore." Nemuri nodded, "Then we're done for the day." Marie panted, "I'm…not…done yet…" Nemuri looked at her daughter and said in the stern voice only mothers can make, "You are done for the day, Marie. You can barely stand, and you've made far more progress in one day than I thought you could. Your Ultimate Technique transformation now takes fifteen seconds instead of twenty, you're done for the day. Do not try to argue with me."

Marie wisely nodded and put the training uniform's shirt back on. "You worked hard, Sis," Joey told her in English, and lent his shoulder for her to lean on as the four of them left Field Gamma. On the ride back, Nemuri sat with Marie. "You need to be more careful," Nemuri told her as they were driven back to the dorms. "I need to be stronger," Marie replied, "Pyromaniac is here, I need to be stronger to beat him this time." Nemuri shook her head and told her, "No. Not if I have anything to say about it, you will not go anywhere near him." "Mom," Marie started, but Nemuri interrupted her, "No, he is too dangerous! That is the end of it, I am your Mother, and you will obey me!"

If Marie's eyes could see, she would have been glaring at Nemuri, for the first time ever. Nemuri's heart broke a little, but she remained firm.

Marie and Nemuri didn't speak to each other the rest of the day, even as they ate together with Joey at the dorms. It was one of the tensest dinners in Nemuri's life.

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. I'm working on another story on AO3, an original story called 'The Battles of Jin Long', plus my life's been hectic so I haven't had much time to write. Please be patient with me and thank you for your continued reading.**


	23. Chapter 23:Birthday Gifts and a Talk

**Chapter 23: Birthday Gifts and a Talk**

 **Joey**

The days leading up to Rukia's birthday were one of the worst times in his life Joey could think of. On top of getting a ton of homework every day, he had to endure seeing his sister and adoptive mom's relationship start to crack. The two of them had loved each other like a mom and daughter should have, he thought, but ever since Nemuri told Marie that she couldn't fight Pyromaniac, it was like Marie lost all that feeling. Whenever they were in the same room, the tension was so thick that it was almost suffocating. Before, Marie and Nemuri would talk about a lot of things like Hero work, school, and relationships; Joey always left the room if he could, so he didn't hear any of that. But now, Marie barely spoke to Nemuri, she'd give one-word answers if she could, the times in the last week she responded with a whole sentence to Nemuri could be counted on one hand. The U.A. Sports Festival was three days away, and Nemuri wanted to help Marie, but Marie had been brushing her off, saying she was training with Aizawa-sensei or Deku and All Might.

Joey and Nemuri's own relationship was still strong, but he had no idea how to heal the relationship between her and Marie. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair. Over the last week, Joey would go to sleep thinking about his old life, when both his parents were alive, they all lived in America; Mom was always home when he was done with school, Dad would come home from work in time for Dinner, he and Marie could play video games or watch movies together. Life was more normal, and it was less than a year since everything seemed to go to Hell.

It was with all these thoughts swirling in his head that Joey and Marie were out shopping, this time with another one of Nemuri's coworkers, Yamada Hizashi, aka Present Mic. Joey and Marie were looking through the makeup kits for kids, trying to find something that suited Rukia's Quirk. He remembered Rukia saying that she always wanted to get makeup to make herself feel prettier, but her Mud Quirk made it impossible for normal makeup to stay on her. After searching for two hours, Joey and Marie reluctantly had to give up, there were no makeup kits that would suit Rukia. Yamada-sensei tried to comfort the two kids, "Hey, cheer up young listeners. When it comes to gifts, the best ones always come from the heart and soul. I'm sure that Rukia-chan wanted other presents for her birthday, aside from makeup."

Joey thought about his talks with Rukia, Jougo, and Eri. They talked about tv shows, movies, anime, manga, favorite heroes…

"Marie, you know that bird guy…Tokoyami, right? You think he'd come to Rukia's birthday party if you asked?" Joey asked. "Tokoyami…maybe? Why?" Marie asked. "Rukia and Jougo told me about the U.A. Sports Festival last year, she said she thought Tokoyami was really cool," Joey explained. "That's not a bad idea," Yamada-sensei said, "Plus, we could say that Tokoyami is practicing his public relations. But, just in case he can't make it, you should think of an actual gift." Joey nodded at this, and the three of them kept on walking through the Mall.

Well, they were never really alone. Even though Kalisha, Springer, Elemental, and Sureshot hadn't interacted with either of them more than they needed, the four American Heroes were never too far away. Right now, it was Sureshot and Springer watching over them. Joey wondered if he could get any of them to come to the party and do some sort of demonstration of their powers, but he was sure only Elemental and Kalisha could. Rukia's party would be in a park, not an appropriate spot for a gun toting Hero like Sureshot or someone as bouncy as Springer. He doubted they would do it, Sureshot and Kalisha were pros after all, and would surely teach their sidekicks the same attitude.

Joey had to stop for a second as he thought about what he could give Rukia. They soon arrived at a bookstore, and Joey saw an advertisement inside. "Alright!" he said in English, the advertisement was about the latest tankobon editions of one of Rukia's favorite manga, _Anko-chan's Crazy Adventures_ , a gag series about a girl whose Quirk was 'Clumsy Luck', no mater what she'd always end up in an insane situation by the end, like a trip to get juice ending with Anko-chan having to stop a rampaging tomato monster! Rukia said she was hoping to get those for her birthday, but her parents both worked really hard and didn't have time to go out much. It would be perfect!

Joey quickly ran inside, Marie and Yamada-sensei following him, "Whoa! Joey! Slow down!" Marie had to yell. Joey waited for them to catch up, then more slowly walked up to the manga section of the bookstore. Slowly and carefully he looked through the manga, he couldn't read Japanese as fast as English. Finally, he found what he was looking for, and saw it was on sale as well, buy one get one half off.

Ever since he had moved in with Midnight, he had gotten an allowance for helping her around the house; taking trash and recycling out, keeping his room clean, washing dishes, helping when she cleaned the whole house and getting good grades had gotten him an average of about ¥1000, sometimes more, a week. He'd been saving up, not sure what he wanted to spend his allowance on and had brought about ¥12000 he could spend. He checked; and saw he had brought enough to buy both tankobon, including taxes. Joey grabbed them and got in line, holding on to them tightly. After waiting for ten minutes or so, it was finally his turn at the register.

The lady at the register was only three years older than Marie and had black and orange hair that didn't look dyed. "Just this, please," Joey said in Japanese. The lady took the tankobon and said, "Oh, this is a good one." "It's for a friend's birthday tomorrow," Joey told her. "Oh, you know we have gift bags for an extra ¥540," she told him. Joey did the math and said, "I'd like that." The cashier nodded and got three bags out, one solid black, one solid pink, and one with a picture of All Might in his prime on it, "Which one?" "Pink," Joey told her, and the cashier packed the tankobon inside the pink bag with matching tissue paper, and said, "That'll be¥11440." Joey paid for his purchase and got his wrapped-up gift before turning to Marie and Yamada-sensei.

That was when all Hell broke loose. The sounds of people screaming went off as three men went speeding down the main aisle of the mall, swinging baseball bats at everything they could reach. They were black blurs to Joey as people fell screaming, or not at all, their faces bloody. "Stay here," Yamada-sensei yelled, "And cover your ears!" Joey quickly did as he said and Marie covered her own ears after shoving her ears in them. Yamada-sensei got in front of the blurs and yelled out in a voice so loud it shattered glass everywhere, " ** _SSTTTOOOPPP RRRIIIGGGHHHTTT TTTTHHHHEEEERRRREEEE!_** "

Joey was paralyzed with fear from the sheer volume of Yamada-sensei's Voice Quirk, and Marie was curled up in a ball while Yamada-sensei secured the Villains. It was three teens, two girls and a guy, they looked no different from any other Japanese teens. Joey looked around when his ears stopped ringing and saw almost three dozen people were on the ground, almost half of them weren't making any sounds…

The boy saw one woman was crying nearby and went to her. He touched her hand and used his Mother's Quirk, Soothing Touch, as he said, "It'll be alright soon, ma'am. The ambulance is on the way." The woman stopped crying, and Joey went to five more people, telling them the same before the paramedics really did show up and took over from there. Marie had recovered in time and went over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. She told him, "Mom and Dad would be proud of you." She gave him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder as she said this.

"Which Mom?" Joey asked. Marie got really quiet then and looked away and said, "Our Mom." Joey swallowed when he heard her say that. Kayama Nemuri wasn't a terrible mom; it had taken him a while to realize that. Their circumstances were different, but she did everything she could for them. Sure, she could be embarrassing, and he wished he could spend more time doing normal things like he did with his Mom, but considering everything, she was probably the best they could hope for. Joey replied to her, "Kayama-san is our Mom, now." Marie tensed up but was quiet the rest of their time out. Eventually, Yamada-sensei took them back to U.A.

As soon as they were in the common room of the dorms, Joey took Marie's hand and told her, "We need to talk." Marie clenched her teeth and held his hand pretty tightly as they walked to her room. As soon as the door was shut, Marie sat on her bed and sighed. "Marie," Joey started, "You and Ms. Kayama need to stop being angry at each other. She's your Mom, she loves and takes care of us. She doesn't deserve to be hated." Marie clenched her hands together so much that the muscles in her arms stood out more than usual. "She doesn't care about what's really right. She just wants to run and hide, let others do the real hard work," Marie said, her voice almost sounding like a wolf's growl. "She does care! That's why she doesn't want you to go after Pyromaniac! You know what happened last time! If you fight him again…" Joey couldn't stop his tears, he was too scared and angry, "If you fight him again then you'll die!"

"Not this time," Marie quietly said, her voice dripping with rage and killing intent. Joey could smell her anger, he had never felt anything like it from her before, it was chilling. He swallowed his fear as Marie continued, "This time, I won't underestimate that son of a bitch. This time, I'm stronger and faster than I was before. This time, when we meet, I'll tear him apart." Joey almost screamed, "You can't! You can't kill him! If you do, then you'll never be a Hero!" Marie's blue eyes glowed as she yelled in a voice that was half growl and half speech, "He deserves it all for what he did to Mom and Dad! He's a murderer, a sex trafficker, a thief, he's the scum of the Earth and the world will be a better place once he's dead! You saw what he did to our parents! He doesn't deserve to live!" Tears were streaming down Marie's cheeks as she finished.

"Dad wouldn't want you to be a killer," was all Joey could think to say. Marie's eyes stopped glowing, and she slid off her bed and down to her knees. Joey went to her and gave her a hug. She returned the hug with interest, and they stayed like that for hours, until it was time for Joey to go home.


	24. Chapter 24: A Birthday and an Enemy

**Chapter 24: A Birthday and an Enemy**

 **Wolfheart**

It was really hasty, getting Aizawa-sensei to allow Marie and a few others to go to Rukia's birthday party, but she managed to convince him. She argued that it would allow them to practice their public relations, as well as demonstrate their control over their Quirks. Aizawa sounded too tired to say 'no', and told Marie, "You and two others, no more. You can leave campus for three hours, no more, even if you have to leave early. One minute longer without a valid excuse, and you'll all be suspended to your dorms for a month. Understood?" Marie nodded, "I understand." She then had to decide who would go with her. Tokoyami agreed after she told him that it was for a fan, and that it would be a great way to enhance his visibility and help him gain a good reputation among people. That left her to figure out who else should go.

She had to think of someone that had an impressive Quirk and would be good with people as well. That automatically left Bakugou out, she'd heard stories about how he made kids cry with his angry yelling. She doubted that the kids would like to see Aoyama after a few minutes, his whole 'shining' persona could get…grating after a while unless you were a special kind of patient. Kirishima's Quirk was legitimately practical, and she had heard him sparring with others, even if she never got to spar with him personally, she knew that he was skilled with it, but it wasn't very attention grabbing unless you could fight with someone to show how cool it was. The problem was that she needed a performer, everyone in 2-A was great with their Quirks, but Marie didn't want to spar with them too much, she wanted someone who could put up a show on their own if necessary.

Finally, it had hit her before she headed to her dorm for bed, and she immediately ran through the dorms, following the scent of the person she wanted. She found her just as she was about to go to bed, and almost ran into her. "ASHIDO!" Marie yelled as she stopped. "WHOA! MARIE! Where's the fire girl?" Ashido Mina said. "You heard about my brother going to a friend's party, right? Tokoyami-san and I are going, and Aizawa-sensei said I could bring one more person. You up for it?" Mina happily replied, "Sure thing. Should I wear my costume and everything?" Marie told her, "Please do. We need to look good for those kids."

And so, the night passed onto a new day, only one day before the U.A. Sports Festival. Marie and her friends all ate breakfast and got ready, before dressing up in their Hero Costumes. Marie met Mina and Tokoyami outside the dorms, waiting for Midnight to come pick them up. "Ah, Marie-chan," Tokoyami said, and Marie heard his cape swirl as he presented something, "I've got something for you, for your costume. Since you are blind, I thought it would be a good addition to it." Marie held out her hand and Tokoyami put a cloth in it. She felt it, it felt like a headband or something. "What is it?" Marie asked. "It's a blindfold, since your eyes cannot help you. In Japanese are the kanji for 'Mind's Eye' on it where your eyes should be, since that is what you use to sense your prey," Tokoyami told her. "Thanks, Tsukuyomi-san," Marie said, using Tokoyami's Hero Name as she tied the blindfold over her eyes. "How do I look?" Mina smiled, "Perfect, now you look really badass."

Marie's bodyguards Elemental and Sureshot arrived, the older Hero looking at the rookies with his ever-shifting eyes. "What's wrong, Frank? Afraid Elemental can't handle all this sexiness in one place?" Marie laughed as she pulled Mina over and they both made poses in the sidekick's direction. Marie smiled wider as she smelled his lust mixed in with discomfort, it was adorable. "Take this more seriously, Wolfheart," Sureshot said in English. Marie stopped posing then, that was the first time he had called her by her Hero Name. "You three are representing yourselves and this school," he said in halting Japanese. "Remember, you are the future of Heroes in Japan. You must acquit yourselves honorably and well. You are doing this in front of children, who in time may become Heroes as well. Do a good job. Okay?"

"Okay!" Mina and Marie said in English, while Tokoyami grunted and nodded. Marie soon heard the sound of a van coming and smelled her Mother's scent inside it along with Joey's and Eri's. Midnight opened the window and said, "Alright, everyone ready to go?" Marie smelled Elemental's discomfort and lust and figured her Mother was dressed in her costume. "Ready to go, Sensei," Mina cheerily said as the five of them all got into the van. "Where'd you get this thing?" Sureshot asked. "Rental," Midnight told him, "Plenty of room for everyone, or two or three very…adventurous people." Marie kept quiet at the implications, and remained silent the entire drive, while Eri and Joey told everyone about their presents for Rukia, Eri had bought her what she called, 'a really cute kitty necklace'.

The whole drive felt awkward for her, she wasn't expecting her Mother to be the one to take them to the party. They still weren't on terribly good terms since their argument, and neither one was willing to budge. Midnight refused to allow Marie to assist the search for Pyromaniac, and told her that if she tried to look for him then she would be grounded to the dorms, even presenting a pair of Quirk nullifying handcuffs she would use to keep her in her dorm room the last time they had argued.

They at last arrived at the park, where Jougo and Rukia were already there with their parents, along with several other classmates of Joey's. All the kids were surprised when they saw that Joey and Eri had arrived with an entire group of Heroes, and soon swarmed them all, asking about their Quirks, where they were from, their Hero Names, and a million other questions before the adults managed to calm them down. The kids all sounded disappointed before Midnight announced, "Don't worry, kids. These amazing Heroes will all give you a demonstration, after the birthday girl has opened all her presents, and everyone's had their fill of cake and ice cream!" That got all of them excited again, but before they could rush Rukia into opening her presents, Midnight said, "As long as you're good that is. And don't rush things."

That helped to calm things down, and everyone sat down and enjoyed some pizza, cake, and ice cream before Rukia opened all of her presents. One boy gave her a book about Heroes, a little girl from her class got her a new doll, and another boy got the mud girl a bow. Jougo gave Rukia a pet turtle, she happily gave him a hug as thanks, and did the same for Joey and Rukia when they showed her their gifts. Everyone seemed happy as the parents took pictures of the birthday girl with her presents, before Midnight announced, "Alright then! Everyone, get ready for the Hero Extravaganza!" That really got the kids hyped as they cheered. "First, let's introduce two Heroes all the way from America: Sureshot, and Elemental!" Sureshot stepped forward and said in his halting Japanese, "I can't use my preferred weapons, unless there's a villain. However, I can still demonstrate my Quirk, with a few plastic knives." Midnight got some plastic knives and handed them to the cowboy themed Hero and he said, "Everyone, finish your drinks, and then toss them into the air when you're done, and I'll hit all of them with these knives."

Everyone attending Rukia's party either drank their drinks or dumped them out before tossing them into the air at random. It didn't matter, Sureshot lived up to his name, and managed to impale every foam cup with the plastic knives. All the kids gasped in amazement, and Sureshot told them, "I will always hit what I aim at, that's why I am Sureshot." The kids and adults alike applauded as Elemental stepped forward, but then went to Midnight to ask her to translate for him. Midnight agreed and Elemental said in English, "In ancient times in the Western World, we believed that the world was made of four elements," Elemental then summoned a fire ball, "Fire," he then pulled a ball of water out of the moisture in the air, "Water," the young Hero then summoned a ball of soil from the ground, "Earth," and then he finished by waving his hands and creating a ball of air, "And air. I can control all of these Classical Elements, that is why I am called Elemental."

Elemental then surprised everyone with a quick display of martial arts Marie recognized from the sounds as being from her own style, Shaolin Kempo Karate. He enhanced his form with the four elements as he went, making everyone gasp in amazement. When he was done, the kids all applauded even louder, and a crowd started to form around them from other people in the park. "Now, allow me to introduce some of the Heroes of the Future, from U.A. High I present: Pinky, Tsukuyomi, and Wolfheart!" Midnight announced, and the three Heroes in Training quickly got in front of the kids and struck what they thought would make for good poses.

Mina went first then as she proudly said, "With my incredible acids, I can chase down and beat any Villain!" She then started making slick acid from her feet and skated around the partygoers a little." Tokoyami then declared, "With my Dark Shadow, I can soar through the night skies. Wherever evil lies in darkness, I can find them." Marie heard as he seemed to make wings with his Dark Shadow and flew up into the sky. When he landed, Marie took that as her cue and did a quick backflip, then quickly performed a quick combination of slashes and kicks before saying, "With my peerless ears and nose, I can track down evildoers wherever they are!" By sheer dumb luck, the three students announced, "We are the Students of U.A.! The Heroes of Tomorrow!"

 _That went better than expected!_ Marie thought as she listened to the applause of the partygoers. After the applause died down, Midnight said, "Alright, I'm sure you all have a few questions for these amazing Heroes of Tomorrow, but if you want to ask them, you need to raise your hands kids!" And right then, all the kids raised their hands and made calls of 'Me Me Me! Pick Me!' Midnight seemed to consider for a minute, but no one was surprised when she picked the Birthday Girl first, "I do believe that you're Rukia-chan, right?" Rukia happily nodded. "Since it's your birthday, you can ask two questions," Midnight told her. Rukia turned to Tokoyami first and asked, "Tsukuyomi-san, are you really weak against light?"

Tokoyami kept his composure as he answered, "It is true that my Dark Shadow is weakened by light, but it is far from 'really weak' against it. And I have trained as well so I don't have to rely on my Quirk to battle evil." Rukia smiled, "So Cool… Um… Wolfheart?" Marie responded, "Ask away, Rukia-chan." Rukia asked her, "Are you really a master of martial arts?" Marie shook her head, "I'm afraid not. I was trained in an American martial art, Shaolin Kempo Karate. Before I left America, I was only around a brown-belt's level in skill. I might have become better since then, but I've never tested myself. I'm not a master, yet. Not for a few more years at least." Mina piped up then, "But she's still an awesome baddie butt-kicker, you better believe it!"

Unfortunately, Mina's words were immediately interrupted by the sound of a loud explosion, and the ground shook, just as Marie smelled something massive. "What's going on!?" she yelled in shock. "There's a giant Villain!" Elemental screamed, and then heard a massive voice yell, " **DIE HEROES!** " in Japanese. "Oh shit!" Sureshot yelled as the civilians around the Heroes all screamed. "Tsukuyomi! Get me close to his face!" Midnight yelled. Marie heard as Tokoyami formed wings with his Dark Shadow and grabbed Midnight as they flew towards the villain, while Mina, Marie, Elemental, and Sureshot all helped herd the birthday party away from the Giant Villain. That was when Marie smelled him.

Her worst enemy.

"Well well well, if it isn't little Marie!" Pyromaniac said from above as he blasted fire around the partygoers, trapping them in a ring of fire! "PYROMANIAC! YOU SON OF A BITCH EAT LEAD!" Sureshot yelled as he drew his guns and fired away, forcing the Villain to dodge his bullets. Meanwhile, Elemental broke the ring of fire with water, and continued herding everyone to safety. "Marie, behind us!" Mina yelled, and Marie smelled more people arriving. "Is it Heroes?" Marie asked. "NO! Those are the League of Villains!" Mina yelled as more fire was blasted at them, forcing Marie and Mina to dodge it. Marie smelled a female running towards her as an eerie voice said, "Oh, don't you look like a cute little doggy! I just wanna skin you alive and make a doll out of that soft fur!"

Something whistled through the air, and Marie quickly avoided the projectile, and a second one that sounded like a knife before realizing the female Villain was almost on top of her. Marie acted on years of honed combat skills and let fly with a hard sidekick just in time, catching the crazy woman in the stomach hard enough to make her gasp in shock before she was sent flying back. "TOGA!" another voice yelled as a second Villain charged at Marie, this time swinging what sounded like a huge sword. Marie dodged the sword swing and ducked under a second before trying to sweep the Villain's feet out from under him. The Villain jumped over her kick and stabbed down, forcing Marie to roll back and onto her feet, ready to keep fighting.

Pyromaniac and Sureshot continued exchanging fire and bullets, Mina was fighting the other Fire Villain, and Marie was furious. "Get out of my way!" Marie yelled as she charged at the Villain she was fighting, he smelled like a turtle. She slid under a sword swing that would have took her head and kicked out for her opponent's groin. The Turtle Villain screamed in pain, "You fake hero! That's low!" Marie stood up and yelled back, "Shut up scum!" before knocking him unconscious with a roundhouse kick. She smelled that Pyromaniac was still there, then heard Mina scream.

"MINA!" Marie roared as she ran to her friend and scooped her up just in time before a fireball could cook them both. "My acid's flammable it turns out. That surprised me, I tried to counter Dabi's fire with it, and it almost blew up in my face," Mina said as Marie kept running, dodging fire blasts the whole time. "What about Toga and Spinner? You were fighting them," Mina asked as Marie managed to jump over a blast of fire that blew up a car behind her. "If those were the turtle guy and psycho, I think I took them down!" Marie answered. "STOP!" Mina yelled.

Marie stopped just as what felt like a solid wall of fire erupted in front of her. "Not bad. That Yankee said that you might be here, said you weren't half bad at this," a voice that sounded like it came from a corpse said. "Marie, was it?" Dabi asked as he walked closer to Marie and Mina. "Mina, I'll distract him, try to take him with your acid when he's got his back turned," Marie whispered to Mina. She then surprised her classmate by tossing her into the air and at the same time ran at Dabi. "Typical American," Dabi said as he unleashed his fire, but Marie sidestepped it, but it was so close she felt her fur singe. Marie tried to tackle him, but he shocked her with a hook kick to her face, knocking her to the side.

Dabi summoned fire to his hand, and that was when Mina made her move, sliding in full tilt and sprayed her acid at him. Dabi was forced to retreat away, too focused on avoiding Mina's acid to counterattack. Marie smelled that Pyromaniac was still close, and focused. She smelled Sureshot, but it smelled like he was surrounded by fire, and the smell of gunpowder. Marie ran in his direction, and heard as his guns clicked, empty.

Sureshot cursed, "Shit. I'm out."

Pyromaniac crowed from above, "I GOT YOU NOW! SAYONARA COWBOY!"

"FRANK!" Marie screamed as her body transformed into her Ultimate Form.

 _BIGGER!_

 _STRONGER!_

 _FASTER!_

 _FASTER!_

 _TRANSFORM FASTER!_

Marie reached Sureshot just in time and tackled him out of the way before Pyromaniac's flames fried him alive. Marie howled out to her enemy; others would later tell her she sounded like she sprang from Hell itself! Marie focused her powerful muscles and jumped up in his direction. Pyromaniac unleashed his fire, but it was too late, and Marie tackled him in midair. The Villain screamed in fear as he slammed his flaming elbow into Marie's head, but she refused to let go. Finally, in a final desperate act, Pyromaniac blasted fire out in a giant burst, forcing Marie to let him go. He managed to blast fire from his back in time to soften his landing, but the wind was still knocked out of him.

Marie struggled to maintain her Ultimate Form, but was in too much pain, and reverted to her normal form. She smelled something from Pyromaniac then, fear. He was afraid of her now. "I hope you washed your neck, Pyromaniac," she said as she turned to her parents' murderer. "Get away from me!" Pyromaniac yelled and tossed a small fireball at Marie. She dodged his attack, but then felt her body cry out in pain from the fire, and impact with the hard ground, and fell. _No! Get up! He's there!_ She thought, but her body was too strained, there was too much pain.

She returned to her Human form, and tears sprang from her eyes. Pyromaniac walked up to her, and summoned fire to his hand. "For a second there, I thought you had me. But hey, look on the bright side, at least you can see Mommy and Daddy again," the sadistic villain said as his fireball grew. Marie grit her teeth and weakly cursed, "Go to Hell!"

Pyromaniac raised his hand.

And then she smelled two familiar smells.

"GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" Midnight screamed as she fell from the sky, her knockout scent blowing everywhere! Pyromaniac sucked in a breath and ran away, before screaming, "UJIKO! WE'RE SCREWED!" "I got you!" Midnight yelled as she swung her whip at Pyromaniac, but then Marie smelled a foul substance, and just like that, the Villains were gone. "What happened? Where are they!?" Marie asked. "Where's Pyromaniac!?" Midnight helped Marie up and told her, "They're gone. One of them has some kind of Warping Quirk. I heard about this before, but this is the first time I've seen it." Marie let her tears pour from her face, her vengeance was stolen from her. "I almost had him," she weakly said, and then passed out.


	25. Chapter 25: A Mother's Greatest Fear

**Chapter 25: A Mother's Greatest Fear**

 **Midnight**

Once Marie passed out, Nemuri quickly yelled, "Marie!? MARIE!? What's wrong!?" Her daughter didn't answer, she was out cold. The Eighteen Plus Only Hero then saw that Marie's ears were bleeding, a sign of a serious skull fracture. "Midnight-sensei, what's wrong?" Tokoyami asked. "Marie's been injured, a skull fracture, or worse," Nemuri quickly said as they heard sirens approach. "Hurry! Signal them, she needs medical attention now!" she ordered, and Tokoyami quickly released his Dark Shadow to get an approaching ambulance's attention. The EMT's soon arrived and one asked, "What happened?" It was Ashido that answered, "We were attacked by The League of Villains. I saw Marie go after this one fiery guy; she must have jumped at least a hundred-fifty meters up to tackle him! He got her off of him, and she hit the ground, hard." The EMT nodded and yelled into a radio at his shoulder, "This is Unit 67 to Main, we have a patient in critical condition, skull fracture, possible brain hemorrhaging." As the first EMT said this, the other one got out a stretcher.

As the second EMT started to lift up Marie, she said, "Shinji, I think she broke both her shoulder blades, possible spinal injuries as well." The first EMT relayed this information and then put the first stretcher into their ambulance and pulled out what looked like a bright yellow board. The EMT's split the board in two down the middle and got it under Marie and strapped her down. "Mom! Marie!" Joey yelled, running up to them, with Elemental running after him. Joey was in his wolf-man form and was just too fast for Elemental to catch up. "MARIE!" Joey yelled as the EMT's lifted her up and headed to their Ambulance. "You need to let us go with her, we're her family!" Nemuri said as she followed the EMT's to their Ambulance.

"Alright, but hurry!" the first EMT said as Nemuri and Joey got into the Ambulance with them. "Sensei!" Tokoyami and Ashido yelled after her. "Call Aizawa and let him know what happened," Nemuri told them, "Stick with Elemental and Sureshot. I'll call everyone when we get to the Hospital!" She barely got this out before the Ambulance door was shut and the Ambulance drove off, sirens blaring. Joey returned to his human form as they went, watching the EMT's put a neck brace on Marie and did what they could for her. "Will she be alright?" he quietly said. Nemuri grabbed his hand and squeezed it as much for her own comfort as his before answering, "Of course she will be, she's strong, she'll recover from this." She didn't look at him as she spoke, however.

They quietly sat and watched Marie as they reached the Hospital, the EMT's quickly got Marie out and carried her on a stretcher inside, Nemuri carried Joey to keep up with them. The EMT's took Marie to the Emergency Room, where a doctor, a woman with short hot pink hair and eyes stopped them, "I'm sorry ma'am, you can't go beyond this point. Do you know the patient?" Nemuri answered, "She's my daughter. She's a Hero in Training, we were attacked by Villains, that's how she was injured. One of my students told me she fell from one hundred-fifty meters." The doctor nodded at this, and then gave her a clip board with papers on it, "I understand, Midnight. Fill this out, and we will call you when you can see your daughter. Right now, you need to stay back and let us do our job. Just tell me your daughter's name and we'll get back to you as soon as we can." Nemuri swallowed and took the clipboard. "Her name is Marie Nemuri Freeman. Please, save her." The Doctor looked at her and said, "We'll do the best we can." The Doctor took Nemuri and Joey to a waiting room and headed back into the Emergency Room.

Nemuri looked to Joey and told him, "Faith, Joey, have faith in her strength." She didn't have as much confidence as she wished, but she had to focus on the papers the Doctor gave her. If she didn't, she'd probably lose her mind with worry. Joey silently sat next to her as she filled out the papers and handed them over to a receptionist. The Eighteen Plus Only Hero then returned to her seat next to Joey and rubbed her eyes. A lot of people in the waiting room stared at her, aside from her fame/infamy, Nemuri's costume was in shreds, she had to expose more than usual to subdue the giant villain. If she had to guess, only her sweat was the only thing keeping her from being truly indecent.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she got a text message from Principle Nezu:

 _Kayama-sensei we heard everything from Ashido-chan and Tokoyami-kun. The other guests were unharmed, only Freeman-chan received serious injury. Aizawa-sensei and Shuzenji-sensei will come when you tell us what Hospital she was taken to._

Nemuri replied back:

 _I am with Joey in Mos Espa Mercy Hospital. Marie is in the ER under intense surgery. EMT's said she is suffering from a skull fracture, possible brain hemorrhaging, and spinal injuries as well._

She swallowed as she sent the text message, and her hand started trembling. Her daughter was injured, she failed to keep her safe. Her daughter was in the Hospital now, with a bleeding brain, possibly paralyzed for life. Even Recovery Girl's Quirk had its limits. She had to grasp her hands together to keep them from trembling, almost tight enough for her long nails to dig into her skin.

… _Nemuri…_ Nemuri…

"Kayama Nemuri!" Aizawa said for the third time, this time sounding genuinely worried. Nemuri looked up to see Aizawa, with little Eri holding his hand and Recovery Girl standing beside them. "Wha…How long…I'm sorry," she told them. "Not long, about two minutes," Aizawa told her, then handed her a bag of clothes, "I used the spare key you gave me. You should go get changed, you'll attract less attention." Aizawa glared at some people who were already taking videos and pictures of them, while Nemuri took the clothes and headed to the nearest female bathroom. After quickly getting herself dressed in a normal purple shirt and jeans with black sneakers and putting her hair into a loose ponytail, she headed back to the waiting room, to see that Eri and Joey were talking together.

"I can help her, if we really need to," Eri said. Nemuri stopped and thought about her options. It would be dangerous, Eri's control over her Quirk was far from perfect. And yet… when Midoriya had rescued her he was able to use his full power, and her Quirk healed him almost instantly, allowing him to defeat Chisaki Kai single-handedly. However, she quickly lost control, Midoriya only survived because Aizawa was there to shut off her Quirk in time. It was possible, if Aizawa stood by, and Eri focused as hard as she could…

"Don't even think about it."

Aizawa poured cold water on Eri's plan. "But Aizawa-tou-san, she needs my help. I can fix her," Eri tried to argue. "You can't control your Quirk well enough," he responded. "I can do it now, I have to," Eri argued back, "I can be a Hero, like you, and Midnight and Recovery Girl." Aizawa rubbed his tired eyes before saying, "Not yet. You're not ready, if anything goes wrong, you could do something irreversible." Aizawa got down on one knee and put his hand on her shoulder, "Part of being a Hero is knowing when to act, and when to wait. We may not need your Quirk. Some of the best doctors in Japan are working on her right now, and Recovery Girl is here as well. Now, is the time to wait and see what happens." Aizawa patted his adopted daughter's head and told her, "I know that your heart is in the right place, but good intentions can only go so far by themselves."

Eri tried to keep from crying but needed to hug Aizawa and cry into his shoulder. Joey looked up at Nemuri and swallowed his own tears before saying, "She'll be alright." He tried to sound brave, but deep down Nemuri could hear that his words were more like a prayer than a certainty.

The five of them sat in the waiting room for four hours. Eventually, Eri and Joey fell asleep, resting their heads on their respective parent's laps. Even though they hadn't said anything during most of their wait, just having her colleagues with her was comforting enough.

"Who is here for Marie Freeman?" a male nurse finally called, and Nemuri's head shot up, she had dozed off herself. "That's us," she quickly said, starting to stand up, and waking up Joey. Joey got up and asked, "How's Marie?" Eri was roused as well and the nurse quickly said, "Ano… family members only, please." Nemuri and Joey stepped up to him while Aizawa and Eri stayed in their seats, Eri waving to Joey with a hopeful smile as the nurse lead them further into the Hospital. They finally arrived in a room, where Marie was laid face-down in a bed, her head wrapped up in bandages. A doctor that Nemuri didn't recognize was standing outside the room along with the pink haired one that had given her the paperwork.

This doctor was an old balding man whose Quirk appeared to be green skin. "Kayama Nemuri? I am Toriyama Inosuke, I worked on your daughter," the older doctor extended his hand and Nemuri shook it, "Thank you for your hard work, Toriyama-sensei." Dr. Toriyama shook his head, "She's not finished yet, unfortunately. Your daughter's injuries were extensive… Are there friends that you can take your son to?" Joey looked up at the green skinned doctor with wide eyes, and Nemuri bent down to Joey, "GO back to Aizawa for now." Joey responded like an eight-year-old, "I don't wanna leave Marie." He said it in English, and Nemuri responded in kind, "I know. But Dr. Toriyama wouldn't say this if it wasn't important, I'm sure his explanation will be very complicated. I promise that I will explain everything to you after he explains it to me. Alright?" Joey swallowed, but nodded, and the nurse escorted him back to the waiting room.

Dr. Toriyama looked at Nemuri and told her, "As I was saying, her injuries were extensive. Both her shoulder blades and four ribs were shattered, along with her skull. Also, two of her vertebrae were fractured, and two more were dislocated. When she arrived, she was experiencing severe brain hemorrhaging, and we had to work quickly to release the pressure her brain was under. We had to shave her head and trepan her skull to do this, drill holes into her head to release the blood. It was a delicate operation, and during it, she was clinically dead for two minutes and seven seconds."

Nemuri sucked in a breath but managed to release it smoothly at this information. Dr. Toriyama continued, "We managed to revive and stabilize her. She was lucky that none of her ribs pierced her lungs or other internal organs. The most delicate part of the operation now is to repair her spine. Come with me." Nemuri followed the old doctor to his office, where he had two replica skeletons on either side of his desk. He turned around the smaller skeleton to show its spine. He indicated four vertebrae between the shoulder blades. "The four vertebrae that were severely injured along with her ribs is here, four of her Thoracic vertebrae. These two were fractured," he indicated two connected vertebrae and then indicated two others, one above the two fractured vertebrae and one below, "and these two vertebrae were dislocated.

"This will be an extremely difficult operation, and we will need to call in a specialist to work on your daughter's spine. Because of her injuries, there is significant risk that even the specialist we are calling in could make a mistake, and leave Marie paralyzed for life. Do we have your permission to proceed with the operation?" Nemuri had to sit down to process all this information, and asked, "And, without the operation, she will be a paraplegic, correct?" Dr. Toriyama nodded, "Yes." Nemuri nodded at this, "Then call in the specialist. I don't care how much it costs, at least there will be a chance for her if she gets the operation." Dr. Toriyama nodded and made the call.


	26. Chapter 26:Desperate Hope and a Vision

**Chapter 26: Desperate Hope and a Vision**

 **Midnight**

The night before was full of fitful sleep for Nemuri. The doctors told her it would be twelve hours before the spine specialist, Dr. Rachel Schneider, could arrive in Japan. She stayed for four more hours at the Hospital before taking Joey home. The boy didn't want to leave his sister, and it took all of Nemuri's willpower not to give in. She had to promise to take him back the first thing in the morning before he agreed to go. She did her best to get him comfortable enough to go to bed, but Joey didn't want to sleep alone. He was too afraid, afraid for Marie, afraid for Nemuri and himself; all terrified that Pyromaniac would take away the people he loved, again. He had seen how Nemuri's presence forced Pyromaniac to run, he believed that she could keep him safe.

Nemuri looked down at her adopted son, he was finally asleep and nuzzling his head to her chest, and she just smiled, _you have no idea how many people wish they were you right now._ She gently patted his head and looked up at a picture on his wall. Joey still needed nightlights and the picture was easy to see. It showed Joey, Marie, Joseph and Mysa at the beach. All of them were in the classic bicep flex pose, first Joey, then Mysa, then Marie, and finally Joseph in the back. She looked at another picture, this one of a very pregnant Mysa, Marie was only eight years old and seemed so small as she kissed her stepmother's belly and the little brother growing inside.

Nemuri swallowed back tears, was this a life she could have had with Joseph? The Eighteen Plus Only Hero, after thinking she had lost her daughter; she vowed to never have children or become involved in a serious relationship, she was afraid of the heartache. Too many Heroes had left behind widowed spouses and parentless children and she didn't want to be a part of that. But she couldn't help but think now, what if? Could she have been a good mother to Marie while maintaining her status as a Hero? Would she have had to retire? Would her children have accepted her public persona? She knew that the barrier between her and Joey had been her job and persona, she wasn't a stay at home Mom, she was a sex symbol lusted after by millions; a far cry from what he thought a Mother should be.

She only realized she was crying when Joey stirred, her tears had fallen on his head. Nemuri wiped them off, but that just woke Joey up. "You need to go back to sleep," she told him. Joey responded, "So do you." Nemuri shook her head, "I'm used to late nights." The boy continued to look at her and she laid down on her back and closed her eyes. Her mind was fully awake though, and she listened and waited for Joey to go back to sleep, still holding on to her. Nemuri felt more tears fall and wondered if this was something Marie had done with Mysa when she was a little girl.

 ** _Several Hours Later_**

Nemuri and Joey eagerly waited in the Hospital lobby for the spine surgeon from America, Dr. Rachel Schneider. Finally, after a sleepless night and a lifetime of waiting. Dr. Toriyama showed Dr. Schneider in. She was a woman roughly Nemuri's age with short red hair and brown eyes, but her most notable features were her six feet in height and four arms. "Hello, I'm Dr. Rachel Schneider, I will be working on Marie's spine," the American doctor said in accented Japanese, and held out both her right arms for Nemuri and Joey. They shook hands and Nemuri said in English, "English is fine, Dr. Schneider. All I really care about is seeing my daughter is healed." Dr. Schneider looked down at Joey and Nemuri put her hand on his shoulder, "My son and daughter have been through a lot. You can explain the operation to us both." Dr. Schneider nodded, and Dr. Toriyama guided them to his office.

Dr. Schneider moved the female skeleton in Dr. Toriyama's office to show its spine and explained, "From what Toriyama-sensei has explained to me, Marie fell from a great height while battling a Villain. The fall fractured her ribs, skull, her shoulder blades, two vertebrae and dislocated two others. Her spinal injuries would have been difficult enough, however, the broken ribs and shoulder blades complicate matters. The operation will be extremely delicate, so as not to exasperate her ribs and shoulder blades and make sure that no small bone fragments go anywhere and damage her soft tissue."

Dr. Schneider reached into her lab coat and pulled out what looked like a plastic tube, "This is a device of my own design, think of it as a special cast meant for the spine specifically. I will attach it to her spine to protect it and straighten it as well to realign her dislocated vertebrae. After it is implanted, she should, after she heals, be able to live a normal life with it inside of her, unless…"

"Unless what?" Nemuri asked. Dr. Schneider took a breath, "It is my understanding that her Quirk is a Transformation Quirk, and one of her forms increases her size. If she uses that transformation while the spinal cast is inside, she could tear the vertebrae out of her spine, leaving her permanently paralyzed." Nemuri and Joey both swallowed, but then Joey asked, "What if her spine is healed? Can you take it off?" Dr. Schneider took a moment to consider, "Maybe? I've never had to remove the spinal cast after it was implanted. Why?" Nemuri realized what Joey was thinking and smiled.

"You might not know this, Dr. Schneider, but I am a Hero, my name is Midnight. I am also a teacher at U.A. High School, the finest Hero Academy in Japan. Our nurse is called Recovery Girl, real name Dr. Chiyo Shuzenji, she has one of the most powerful Healing Quirks in the world. With her help, we can speed up Marie's healing, and allow you to remove the spinal cast," Nemuri explained. Dr. Schneider nodded, "Very well. Call your Doctor. If she agrees, then I will apply the cast, and then remove it after Marie is fully healed."

 **Marie**

 ** _The place where she was… How could one describe it? By sight it was completely white. It seemed to be a white void, filled with the sound of soft music. Soothing smells such as lavender, vanilla, tea, and many more seemed to swirl around the Void, filling Marie with a peaceful feeling. "Am I in Heaven?" Marie asked, "Am I…dead?"_**

 ** _"Not yet."_** ****

 ** _Marie turned around and saw two people she didn't expect to see. "Mom! Dad!"_**

 ** _Marie ran to her dad, Joseph Freeman and her mom, Mysa Freeman. She wrapped them both in a tight hug, not an easy thing since her father was so large, and her mom was so small, but she managed it. "I didn't think…this would happen now," Marie said with tears streaming down her eyes. Her parents were_** **_clothed in ways she never saw them in life, Joseph in a suit of white and gold and Mysa in an elaborate golden sari embroidered with many swirling designs. "You're not dead yet, daughter of my heart," Mysa told her, "Think of this as somewhere in between."_**

 ** _Marie was filled with relief, like she had never felt before. Her body felt lighter than ever, and her soul was at peace. "What does that mean for me?" she asked. "This is your path," Joseph told her, "We can't walk it for you. You know how cruel and terrible the world is. There is something better waiting for you, but no one can make you go there. Where do you want to go?"_**

 ** _Marie swallowed; she had never felt better before. How could she give up…this sheer relief? The answer came to her as she remembered Joey, Nemuri, Denki, Midoriya, Ochako, Momo, Mina, and all her other friends. She didn't want to leave them yet. And there was one more thing she had to do before she died._**

 ** _"People still need me," Marie answered, "I can't leave yet." Joseph and Mysa smiled, and they both gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I knew you would say that," Mysa said, "You are truly your Father's daughter." Joseph and Mysa wrapped their daughter in a hug and told her, "Remember, you are only alone if you choose to be."_**

 ** _"I love you forever."_**


	27. Chapter 27: Returning to School

**Chapter 27: Returning to School**

 **Wolfheart**

The first thing Marie smelled was disinfectant. The place she was in reeked of it. That was how she knew she was alive; the…Heaven? Void? Otherworld? Whatever she had seen her parents had smelled much better. She then smelled her Mother, and Joey as well. Judging by the strength of their scents, they hadn't bathed in at least two days, maybe three. "So, this is what a Japanese hospital is like," Marie said aloud. Nemuri and Joey instantly were on her, hugging her tightly, "We were so scared! I thought you were dead!" "Hold on, hold on! We still need to examine her properly!" an older man's voice declared. Nemuri and Joey reluctantly let Marie go and the older man, a doctor, Marie guessed, helped her sit up. She smelled Recovery Girl nearby and was sure that she was fine now; but the doctor had to make sure. He used his stethoscope to check her heart, she was breathing fine. He pressed on her back, sides, and chest, to examine her ribs, they were fine.

Marie felt as her head was touched to examine her skull, and she realized she was feeling the doctor's hands directly on her scalp. "What!? What!? What happened to my hair!?" Marie yelled in English. Her Mother explained, "Your injuries were great, Marie. Your brain was bleeding heavily, and the doctors had to perform surgery to save you. Well, your hair was in the way…" The doctor said, "Indeed, Marie-chan, we had to do it. I am sorry, but it was necessary to save your life. However, it seems that you are completely healed." A woman who sounded about her Mother's age then spoke up in English, "Indeed, you had extensive injuries with your skull, ribs, and spine and required multiple surgeries. If it wasn't for the help of Recovery Girl, I doubt that you would have recovered so quickly, or so well."

"Who are you? How many doctors did I need?" Marie asked in Japanese. The older man answered first in Japanese, "I am Dr. Toriyama Inosuke, I was your primary physician and performed the surgery on your skull and brain." The woman then answered, again in English, "I am Dr. Rachel Schneider, I was called to operate on your spine. It was a difficult operation, but it seems that you have…mostly recovered." Marie asked Dr. Schneider, "What do you mean, 'mostly' recovered?"

It was Recovery Girl who explained things to Marie, "Because of the damage to your spine, we three all agree that you must be careful with your Transformation Quirk. Especially with your second form where you grow larger than usual. For at least a month, preferably six weeks, you cannot use that transformation, such an extreme change in your body structure could put too much stress on your spine, and render you permanently paralyzed beyond our ability to heal."

Marie swallowed nervously at that, "R-really?" Dr. Schneider confirmed, "Really. Transformation Quirks affect the entire body, especially the skeletal system, and put stress on it that humanity, to be honest, was never truly meant for. If you weren't so young, meaning your body can recover from so much more damage, then I'd say that you should just retire from the Hero business." Marie nodded, "I understand, my Ultimate Technique's retired for the next six weeks, or I'll be paralyzed forever." Dr. Schneider nodded, "Good. I know it sounds hard, now, but after your body has recovered, you will truly be good as new." Marie nodded, "Thank you."

For the next hour the doctors gave Marie a full examination of everything, just to be sure that she was truly ready to go home. Aside from her blindness they determined that she was at the peak of health for a young woman of her age, as Dr. Toriyama said, "You are one of the most physically perfect young women I've ever examined. Simply take it easy with your Quirk for the next six weeks, and you will be perfectly alright." After getting dressed in some clothes that her Mother had brought for her, Marie headed out with her family. Just as they left the Hospital, Marie's stomach growled loud enough to make a couple passing by look at her.

"Man, I'm starving. How long was I out?" Marie asked as they got in a taxi. "About four days, give or take a few hours," her Mother answered. "That sounds…long," Marie commented. "It took twelve hours for Schneider-sensei to arrive, that was after the four hour surgery on your brain, and then Recovery Girl said you needed at least twenty-four hours after then ten hour surgery to fix your spine to recover your stamina before she sped up your healing, and another hour because Schneider-sensei had implanted a spinal cast, and agreed to remove it after Recovery Girl worked her magic, and then Recovery Girl needed to work on you again after that surgery. The rest was just us waiting for you to wake up after the anesthesia and sedatives wore off," her Mother explained. Marie nodded, and her thoughts were swirling through her head.

She almost…no, she HAD died! Her heart had stopped beating and her brain had stopped working. She had tried to kill her parents' murderer and almost died. After the taxi dropped them off at U.A., Marie reached out and took Joey's hand in her right, and her Mother's in her left. "Mom, Joey, I know how much I screwed up," she started. "I…I was selfish, all I wanted was to get revenge on Pyromaniac. I almost died for that. I know I haven't been a good sister, or daughter, I'm sorry. I promise, I won't take you for granted again. You're my family…nothing is more important than that, and I forgot it. I'm so sorry…" Marie had tears rolling down her cheeks, and her Mom and Joey wrapped her in a group hug. "As long as you're safe, that's all I care about," her Mom told her, as she wiped her tears away.

"Let's go," Midnight said, "I'll make you both curry for lunch." Marie's mouth started to water at the thought of home cooked food, "I love you Mom." The three of them went into the Class 1-A dorms, and were immediately swarmed by all of Class 1-A!

"MARIE! YOU'RE BACK!"

"ARE YOU OKAY!?"

"We saw the video online, you looked really hurt, kero."

"I owe you so much for saving me back there!"

"We got you some peaches, Joey said that they're your favorite."

It was Kaminari Denki who said that last one, and Marie quickly yelled, "Guys! GUYS! GIVE ME SOME ROOM!" Everyone stopped and Marie took a breath, "Thanks, really, I mean it. I'm glad you all care, but it's been way too long since I last ate something. Is it okay if I have something to eat?" And right on cue, her stomach growled out, and she felt everyone staring at her. "Yeah," Kirishima said, "That sounds like you need to sit down and eat." Marie smelled her way to the peaches that Denki had mentioned and quickly grabbed four, throwing one to Joey, who managed to catch it. The siblings sat at a table and Marie got some paper towels for them.

Marie ate the first peach with the kind of speed that would have made her Grandma scold her, but she ate the second one slower, savoring the flavor of the peach. Denki sat down next to her and was looking at Midnight, who was getting ready to make curry. "Huh…never imagined Midnight-sensei as a home cooker. That's different," he said. Marie smiled as she finished her second peach, "Checking out my Mom, Denki?" Denki sputtered a little, "Wha-Na-No! I'd n-never do that!" Marie chuckled and told him, "Hey, I know my Mom's hot. You're just a healthy teenaged boy and all that stuff. It's natural to look when you're around one, or two, hot ladies."

After a minute of trying to talk, Denki just shut his mouth. After she finished eating, Marie reached out and found his hand and told him, "Denki, I want to talk to you, in private, later, after I have some lunch, alright?" Her boyfriend grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze, "Alright." Midnight chuckled at this as she stirred the curry, and quietly whispered, "Ah, young love." While she waited for the curry to finish, Marie asked her classmates about the Sports Festival she had missed due to her injuries. It was crazy as everyone started talking at once, but eventually Marie got the basic gist of it, that being that in the end Denki had come from behind to win Third Place, a spot he shared with Todoroki; Bakugou had made it to Second Place much to his fury, and Midoriya had battled his way to First.

Marie laughed, "Oh God I wish I could see his face when he lost!" Bakugou growled and stomped over to Marie, "Laugh it up, Kuroko. If we had fought, you'd have gone down hard." Marie snorted and said, "Bakugou, if we ever do go toe-to-toe, you better bring your A-game. Because if you hold back even a little, I'm gonna beat you so hard your Grandkids will feel it!" They were stopped from arguing further with the sound of Midnight hitting the pot she was making the curry in. "Alright, alright, now's not the time for all that. As much as I love hearing the sounds of youthful passion, it's time to eat, Marie," the Eighteen Plus Only Hero said as she filled two plates of curry for Joey and Marie. Once they had their food, she made her own plate, and Denki got up so Midnight could sit next to Marie.

The three of them clapped their hands together and said, "Itadakimasu!" and dug in. Marie took her first bite and was amazed. She had had plenty of Indian style curry growing up, it was Mysa's go to dinner dish for the family half the time when she cooked. And yet, this one was even better than hers. Marie smelled and tasted chicken, chickpeas, some ginger, tomatoes, and a healthy dose of cumin powder. Joey groaned too and put his spoon down. "Is something wrong, Joey?" Midnight asked. Joey said, "It's better than Mom's curry. I…I really like this." Marie paused for a minute and paid close attention to her brother, the sounds he made and scents he gave off.

She smelled sadness, but not tears, he seemed mostly happy with the food, mixed with sadness for the memory of Mysa. "I really like it…Mom," Joey told Kayama Nemuri. She responded, "I'm glad you do, Joey. I found this recipe last week, and I was hoping you would." The family continued eating together with more relish after this, and Marie was glad to learn her Mom had made enough for them all to enjoy seconds. Once lunch was over, Midnight left to get a shower and see what paperwork she had missed and get makeup assignments for Marie. Joey and Marie hung out in the lounge area and watched a movie with Ochako, Denki and Midoriya about a Jungle Princess whose Quirk let her transform into any animal she wanted battling against poachers. As she listened to the movie, Marie couldn't help but feel like something that had been missing was finally found again.


	28. Chapter 28: Marie and Bakugou

**Chapter 28: Marie and Bakugou**

 **Deku**

Izuku and almost everyone else was downstairs in the lounge making breakfast, same as usual. But then Mineta spoke up, "Hey, where's Kaminari?" Izuku looked around, and sure enough Kaminari wasn't there. Neither was Freeman-chan now that he looked; everyone else but those two were downstairs. "We should go get them, before it's too late and they're late for class!" Iida declared, before Sato said, "Hold on, I see them coming now."

The two missing students walked into the lounge area; hands intertwined. Kaminari had a big smile on his face, and Marie's shoulders looked more relaxed than they usually did. Ordinarily her body language was tense and on edge. The two of them went into the dining area, together, and the girls had a number of reactions. Ashido-san, Hagakure-san and Ochako-chan were giggling, Yaoyorozu-san covered her mouth and blushed, while Tsuyu-chan was looking thoughtful. Mineta looked at the couple and mumbled, "…traitor." That was when it hit Izuku and he blushed at the thought.

Iida seemed oblivious as he chastised them, "Kaminari-kun, Freeman-san, you need to work harder on your punctuality! You were almost too late for breakfast and making sure you were ready for the school day! What were you two doing?" Kaminari started to blush and Marie quickly said, "Just showing Denki some stretches, that's all. Heroes need to stay…flexible to be in tip-top shape, right?" Iida bought it! And said, "I see, that is indeed something that we should work on. Perhaps you can help everyone else with their stretches at a more appropriate time?" Kaminari snickered and Marie smiled, "Sure thing, Iida-san."

Once everyone had eaten, they all went to their rooms and got ready for class. In class, Aizawa-sensei declared, "We are going to have a practical test. Everyone get into your costumes and be ready to go to the USJ." Izuku and everyone else grabbed their costumed and quickly changed before getting on the bus to take them to the USJ. As luck would have it, Izuku and Ochako got to sit next to each other. "I wonder what we'll be doing this time," Ochako commented. "I guess we'll be working on our rescuing skills again. Maybe we need to go there until we've survived all the environments?" "Maybe," Ochako agreed, then changed the subject, "Can you believe that Marie and Kaminari-kun really did it?" Ochako was blushing as she said this and Izuku was just as red, "W-well I-I heard that Americans are… I mean that Freeman-chan is a good person, and all but… Uh… I guess that's just her?" He wasn't sure what to say about it.

He then quickly tried to change the subject, "Well, anyway, I guess she's mostly recovered from that fight she was in if she can do…that." Ochako replied, "Not really. She told us girls last night that she can't use her Ultimate Technique for about six weeks according to the Doctors. They told her if she did then she could be paralyzed permanently. She'll be partially handicapped in this test." Izuku nodded, "But, she's pretty smart with her Quirk, knows how to handle herself. It shouldn't be too bad for her." He looked through the bus and saw Marie was sitting with a giggling Ashido talking quietly.

The bus got them to the USJ and they saw that there was another bus there. Class 2-A got off at the same time as Class 2-B got off of their bus and the students all lined up behind their homeroom teachers. "Huh, you think we'll be fighting class B again?" Mineta asked as they went. "HAHAHA!" Monoma Neito's annoying laugh went off as Mineta said that, "I hope you're ready Class A! Because we'll mop the floor with you all again, just like last time!" Marie responded to that, "Hey copy-boy. Knock it off or I'll kick your butt so hard your new nickname will be 'Soccer-ball'." Aizawa-sensei and Vlad King both said, "That is enough of that!" Vlad King then continued, "For this exercise, the classes will divide into teams composed of members from both Class A and B.

"This is to promote greater cooperation, when in the field you never know who you may be teamed up with, and you need to be able to work with others you don't know well. Fourteen teams of three will be composed at random. Some, by necessity, will have more of one class than the other. Two of these teams will then compete against each other to rescue a group of civilians from a team of villains. Professional Heroes have volunteered to act as villains, and we will not reveal who they are. You'll have to adapt and think of the fly to succeed. And most of all, teamwork will be the key to success," Vlad King finished speaking as they entered the USJ and saw Thirteen-sensei holding two boxes for them.

"Alright everybody," Thirteen-sensei said, "Everyone take number from the box in my right hand to decide your teams. Once you're in your teams, one person per team will take a paper from the box in my left hand to determine which area you'll be in. Let's get started!"

Everyone grabbed a number from the box in Thirteen-sensei's right hand. Izuku was partnered with Marie and Tsunotori-chan from Class B. The three of them grouped up and Marie said in English, "Hey, I heard you talking earlier, Tsunotori-san. You're not a native Japanese speaker, are you?" Tsunotori-chan answered in English, "Is it that obvious? Dang it, I was hoping that those extra lessons with Itsuka would help." Marie nodded, "You're not terrible, but your accent is sort of obvious. Let me guess, Texas?" "Yep," Tsunotori-chan said, "And I guess you're from one of the Carolinas." Marie smiled and pointed her thumb at herself, "SC Girl born and raised." The rest of the girl's talk got Izuku lost as they talked faster and about things that he was sure only Americans understood, so he went to grab the paper telling them where they were going.

He opened it as he went back to his partners and saw that they were going to the Mountain Zone. "Alright, Freeman-chan, Tsunotori-chan, we're going to the Mountain Zone for this one," he said when the two girls stopped talking. "Alright," Marie said in Japanese and lifted up her hands, "Let's do it!" Izuku and Tsunotori-chan high-fived her, and then the group they would be facing off against walked over. "Oh yeah!" Tetsutetsu-san bellowed, he was grouped with Kacchan and Shinso-san, "This is going to be one awesome match! Don't you go easy on me, Pony!" Marie smiled at this and walked over to Tetsutetsu-san, "Alright, Steal Boy. If Pony does go easy on you, then I'll come at you guys twice as hard. So you better not hold back!" Marie put her fist out and Tetsutetsu-san fist-bumped her, "Let's have a good match!"

"So that's the black girl we've been hearing about," Shinso-san said as he walked up to Izuku. "She seems like a handful to deal with." Izuku shrugged and saw that Shinso-san had changed his Hero Outfit, he was now wearing dark gray shirt and pants with black boots along with his voice synthesizer and memory fabric capture weapon. Izuku told him, "She's…exciting but really friendly once you get to know her." Kacchan interrupted by exploding and yelling at Marie, "You better be ready, Kuroko! I'm gonna blast you straight to the Continent!" Marie responded to that by getting so close to Kacchan's face that their noses were millimeters from touching, "Bring it Firecracker Boy! I'm gonna kick the stupid out of you!" Izuki and Shinso-san both had exasperated expressions as they helped separate their team members.

"Freeman-chan! Bakugou-kun!" Aizawa-sensei yelled out as his capture tool tied up the two of them. "Any more fighting outside of the test and I will have you both confined to your rooms for a week, and you will automatically fail this test. Understood?" Bakugou clicked his tongue but said, "Yes Sensei." Marie had a vein throbbing in her forehead, but she bowed in Aizwa-sensei's direction and said, "I understand, Sensei. I'm sorry." Aizawa let them go and some robots came driving carts to take the different teams to their Zones. The whole drive to the Mountain Zone, Marie and Kacchan were silent, but one could just feel their shared negative feelings towards each other. They were let off and the two teams took their positions. The Mountain Zone would be tough terrain to traverse with steep cliffs, deep caverns, and even a small valley.

The robot that drove them to the Mountain Zone told the students, "Your mission in this Zone is to reach the summit of the highest peak, and safely evacuate six hostages out of the Zone within an hour. There will be other robots and one Pro-Hero there to stop you. Goodbye." The robot drove off, leaving the two teams alone. Overhead speakers announced, "Alright! All Teams ready! GO!"

 **Wolfheart**

As soon as Thirteen yelled 'Go!', the two teams took off, climbing the mountains. Marie let Midoriya and Pony go ahead of her, she followed their scents closely as she activated her Quirk. Bakugou and his team went another path. As they climbed, Marie asked in English, "Pony, what kind of Quirks do the guys on Bakugou's team have?" Pony answered, "Tetsutetsu can cover his entire body in steel, but he needs to eat a lot of iron-rich food to keep it strong. Shinso can brainwash people if they respond to anything he says. He's also been taking martial arts lessons with Mr. Aizawa, he's pretty tough in hand-to-hand fighting, and that capture weapon of his is no joke." Marie nodded as they kept on climbing. "Alright then, six hostages, that's two for each of us. We need to figure out how many robots we're dealing with too, plus the Pro-Hero we might be fighting.

They climbed for five more minutes before Marie said, "Hold on, I think I got an idea. I saw this in some movies." They all stopped, and Marie put her head on the ground, making sure her ears were as close to it as possible. She couldn't place them directly on the ground, since her wolf ears were on top of her head, but she got them close. Marie focused on her hearing like never before for five solid minutes. "Alright, I can hear the other Team, they're to the East and about a dozen yards behind us, I think. I'm hearing robots too, a few dozen, but not too many, maybe forty at most. That's all I can hear." Pony and Midoriya expressed surprise at Marie's skill, "That's awesome!" Pony said, and Midoriya said, "Are you sure about that?" Marie shrugged, "I'm mostly guessing on the robots, but I'm pretty sure there's not more than we can handle." Marie stopped talking and focused on her smell then.

For a minute she smelled the air, taking it in with deep breaths. "Do these Zones have wildlife?" she asked. "No," Pony answered in Japanese, "Thirteen-sensei doesn't want to risk any animals getting hurt." Marie nodded, "Are there any Pro-Heroes with rabbit Quirks?" Both Midoriya and Pony gasped then, and Marie could literally smell their fear. _Ohhhh shit… Why do I get the feeling we're about to get our asses kicked?_ "Th-there's one Hero like that…" Pony said. "Mirko, the Rabbit Hero, currently ranked Number 4 on the Hero Charts," Izuku said. "F-F-Four?" Marie said in shock, "We're facing the FOURTH STRONGEST HERO IN JAPAN!?" Midoriya quietly said, "Yes." Marie started smelling the air again and found some people she assumed were the people they had to save…and the Rabbit smell was also strongest with them.

"Well…crap. Looks like Mirko is with the hostages. If we want to win this, we gotta go through her," Marie announced. The three of them sat there quietly, pondering their options. Marie didn't know much about Mirko, but she knew that for ANY Hero to be the FOURTH highest ranked Hero in Japan meant that that Hero was a force to be reckoned with. Marie didn't know what to expect, but she was sure that in a one on one fight, she would go down hard. Midoriya then spoke up, "W-W-Well, it might not be as bad as we think. I mean, last year when we faced the Teachers, they were all wearing weights to slow them down and weaken them. M-Maybe Mirko has the same handicap. I mean, they wouldn't do this if they thought we couldn't pass the test, right?"

"Right," Marie said with more confidence than she felt, "We can do this, guys. We just need to focus, and we can win." Unfortunately, Marie's body betrayed her as she showed several signs of fear in wolves, her ears flattened against her head, her tail was between her legs, and she was licking her lips a lot. She had to focus to get her body under control and marched forward, "Let's do this!"

They kept on their course, and for about ten minutes there was no sign of any attacks. That was when Marie heard them. "Incoming robots at four o'clock!" she yelled and the three of them quickly faced where about a dozen robots were coming from. They were on treads and six of them blasted lasers at the Heroes-in-Training. Marie, Midoriya, and Pony quickly scattered, and Marie heard as two objects flew at the robots. "What was that?" Marie yelled as she dodged laser fire and kept on charging at the robots. "My Quirk is Horn Cannon! I can shoot and control horns out of my head!" Pony explained as she ran behind Marie. Midoriya quickly dashed ahead of them and kicked two robots to pieces right as Pony's horns destroyed two more. Marie wasn't to be outdone and she grabbed one by its arm and threw it into another, making both robots explode.

Pony fired two more horns and destroyed two more robots and Midoriya smashed a ninth robot with a hard punch. Marie ran between three robots and listened as they powered up to fire lasers. She jumped up just as they fired, the robots hit each other instead, paralyzing them long enough for Marie to slice them apart with her claws. Marie listened and didn't hear anymore robots, then she put her ears to the ground again. The robots were on the move.

"Alright, we might have more coming. I heard a bunch of robots heading towards Bakugou's group, and more are heading our way too," Marie told her teammates. "We need to keep moving, and fast. Tsunotori-san and I will take the lead, we can do long-range attacks. Marie, stay behind us in case we get to close quarters fighting, and keep your ears open in case we're attacked from behind, sound good?" Pony grunted in acknowledgement and Marie said, "Alright, let's do this."

The three of them ran as fast as they could towards the summit just as Midoriya said. Marie kept her ears open for any robots coming from the sides or behind and didn't hear anything approaching. She heard the robots before her teammates saw them and yelled, "Incoming, one o'clock!" She heard Midoriya say, "Air Force!" She heard four small sonic booms erupt from his hand, and four robots being reduced to scrap half a second later! Pony unleashed her Horn Cannon and Marie heard four more robots be destroyed. She didn't hear anymore robots coming their way. She got Midoriya and Pony to stop and put her ears to the ground a third time. She could hear some kind of fight through the ground, lots of explosions. "The rest of the robots are going after Bakugou's team," she announced, "I don't think that it'll slow them down for long."

Just then, she smelled a rabbit dropping from the sky. "MIRKO!" That was when something or someone hit the ground hard enough to cause a small shockwave, knocking everyone on their back! "So, this is how U.A. does things now, encouraging weaklings," a woman's voice said, and Marie figured that had to be Mirko. "I was getting bored waiting, so I decided to have some fun. Alright, Rookies, show me what you got!"

Midoriya recovered first and charged at Mirko so fast that Marie was sure he'd gotten her. Instead, the Rabbit Hero dodged him easily. "You got speed, I'll give you that," she said and dodged Pony's Horn Cannon. Marie ran at Mirko, running low to go for a tackle, but Mirko jumped up. Marie rolled forward just in time to avoid getting her back stomped on, and Pony's Horn Cannon went off again. This time, Mirko grabbed them and held them tight. Midoriya went at her, but Mirko whacked him in the face with the Horns instead before running at Pony. Pony avoided Mirko's low kick, but Mirko delivered a high kick to her solar plexus that knocked the air clean out of her. Marie ran at Mirko and Pony just in time to hear Pony start puking her lunch out.

Marie slashed at Mirko, and the older Heroine dodged her slashes. "Hmm… you certainly have a good handle on offense," Mirko said before throwing a punch that Marie blocked with her right arm. Mirko threw a high kick and Marie barely dodged it, Mirko's foot touched her ears; a few more millimeters and Marie would have been out cold. Marie tried to sweep Mirko's feet, but Mirko jumped up in time to avoid it. "Midoriya! Get Pony and get the hostages! I'll distract Mirko!" Marie yelled, then had to block a kick to her guts. Marie used both arms in and X-block and even then, Marie was sent flying back six feet. "Is that all you got?" Marie yelled back with a cocky smile that was all bluff.

Mirko cracked her neck and knuckles and said, "You should get going, Midoriya. I'll handle you after I deal with this little girl." Midoriya said, "No way! Freeman-chan-" Marie yelled at him, "Just go! Don't take too long though. Don't worry about me, Deku. Remember my Hero Name is Wolfheart for a reason! There's no way am I losing to some hopped up bunny." Mirko laughed at that, "I'll give you this much, little girl, you get plenty of guts. I guess I can stop holding back!" Mirko rocketed at Marie, and she barely managed to avoid her uppercut. Mirko then punched Marie's stomach hard. Marie took the hit and grabbed Mirko's head. She tried to knee her, but Mirko blocked Marie's knee and broke out of the clinch.

Mirko went for a kick and Marie blocked it with her knee before going for a claw slash that Mirko dodged. Marie then jumped forward and tackled Mirko down to the ground. "Tricky, nice," Mirko said, then wrapped her legs around Marie's waist and squeezed her tight! Marie screamed in shock and pain; Mirko's powerful thighs squeezed her tighter than an anaconda! "You fought hard, Rookie. If I wasn't wearing these weights, you wouldn't have stood a chance, but you did well with what you had," Mirko said. Marie tried to break Mirko's hold on her, but Mirko's legs were too strong, even stronger than Marie's own upper-body strength! Mirko squeezed her tighter, and Marie had to struggle not to throw up and she could feel herself suffocating. "Just give up, Rookie, before you get really hurt," Mirko smugly said.

With one last desperate yell, Marie grabbed Mirko's shoulders and screamed in English, "NNNEEEVVVEEERRR!" Marie lifted Mirko up at the same time as she slammed her head down, pounding both their skulls together. "KAH!" Mirko yelled in surprise before Marie did it again, this time hitting her nose, breaking it. Mirko let Marie go and Marie quickly jumped back and sucked in air. She couldn't concentrate on her Quirk and transformed back into her normal form as she tried to catch her breath. _Thank God, she didn't break any ribs…_

"You broke my nose," Mirko said, sounding angry. Before Marie could get up, Mirko stomped down on her stomach, hard enough that this time, Marie puked. Marie weakly grabbed Mirko's ankle, and Mirko said, "You don't die easy, I'll give you that, Rookie. You said you're Wolfheart, right?" Marie struggled and said, "Y-yeah." Mirko said, "I'll remember that. For now, why don't you take a long nap!" Mirko raised her foot to kick Marie again, when she heard Bakugou roar, "DIE!"

Mirko barely dodged Bakugou's blast, jumping high in the air. "Are you alright?" Tetsutetsu asked as he helped Marie up. Marie coughed, "She kicked my ass good. I told Midoriya and Pony to go on ahead while I distracted Mirko. Thought I'd at least last longer than this." Tetsutetsu said, "That's one of the Top Ten for you, I don't think any one student could take one of them on and win." Shinso then said, "Take a break, Wolfheart. We'll take it from here." The two of them charged after Mirko just as she landed a hard kick to Bakugou's head. Shinso let loose with his capture weapon, but Mirko grabbed it and pulled him in. He would have been knocked out if Tetsutetsu hadn't distracted her by grabbing her from behind. Mirko jumped up and flipped behind Tetsutetsu and kicked him into Bakugou before Bakugou could unleash another explosive blast.

Shinso then spoke up, "Hey, Mirko, do you really like to screw like a rabbit?" Mirko responded, "You-" then she was quiet. Marie got up and asked, "What happened?" Shinso responded, "I used my Quirk. As long as she doesn't get hurt or I don't get hurt, she'll be brainwashed for as long as I want. It's a good thing she's so cocky." Marie nodded, "Yeah." "Wolfheart! HEEEEYYYYY!" Everyone turned and it was Midoriya and Pony, with the hostages. "Oh wow, you guys got her," Pony said, then said, "Oh man! Marie, are you alright?!" Marie coughed, "I don't know, I think I lost a few inches off my waist, and my breakfast, but I'm not bleeding, and I don't think anything's broken."

"So what now?" Tetsutetsu asked, "We captured Mirko, but you guys got the hostages." Midoriya said, "I think we should just head back. I'm pretty sure that we'll all get credit for it." Bakugou clicked his tongue but said, "Whatever, Deku." No one argued with his plan, so the six students headed out of the Mountain Zone with their captured Hero and the hostages. Nothing eventful happened the way back, and when they exited, they saw that the robot was waiting for them along with Thirteen-sensei. "Congratulations, the six of you have all passed!" Marie said, "Thanks." Shinso released Mirko and she yelled, "can kiss my- huh? What the Hell!?" Marie told her, "He got you with his Quirk. If you kept your mouth shut, he wouldn't have been able to brainwash you." Mirko crossed her arms, "Sneaky little punk. Fine, whatever."

Mirko turned her attention to Marie then, "You're pretty impressive, Wolfheart. I think I'm gonna want to talk to you later. Later." With that, Mirko removed her weights and hopped away with one powerful leap that set off a small shockwave. "Man, that was painful," Marie said and patted her waist. "Man, I can see the bruise on you! What did she do, try to squeeze you with her thighs?" Tetsutetsu. "Yep," Marie said, and then turned to Tetsutetsu, Shinso, and Bakugou.

She bowed down like her Mother had showed her how a woman bows in Japan, with her hands in front, and bent down until her body was at a thirty-degree angle, a keirei bow. "Thank you all so much for saving me," she said and then she went to Bakugou and bowed lower, to a forty-five-degree angle, a saikeirei bow. "Bakugou-san, I'm sorry for how I've acted towards you. I hope that we can bury the hatchet, and work better together from now on." Everyone was quiet as they waited to see what would happen.

Bakugou actually seemed embarrassed before he said, "Fine. Whatever. I guess you're not too bad, taking on the Number Four Hero and breaking her nose. I guess we can work a little better K-…Freeman." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief once that was over. Once everyone completed the test, they saw that almost all the Top Ten Heroes were participating. Of the fourteen teams that were made, only six had actually completed the mission while everyone else was either captured or ran out of time. All the teams that won did so by working together.


	29. Chapter 29: Evil Plans and Work Studies

**Chapter 29: Evil Plans and Work Studies**

 **Pyromaniac**

Pyromaniac was waiting outside a warehouse in some port in Yokohama, smoking his third cigarette of the night and waiting for this contact. After failing to get the girl, Shigaraki had been furious, practically screaming that now it would be harder than ever to fulfill their plans quickly. Pyromaniac took in all in stride, he knew that a crew like The League of Villains needed all the manpower they could get, so he wasn't afraid of being disintegrated by him. However, ever since then they had been laying low, focusing on robbing and killing rival gangs, especially the drug dealing ones; taking their cash and product. They were especially on the lookout for Quirk Enhancers. Pyromaniac didn't use those himself; he had seen what kinds of freaky mutations could result from overuse of them; but he also knew how effective they were if used right.

He was working with the one girl in the League, Toga Himiko. She was alright, a little small and young for his tastes, but she was supposed to be good in a fight. Little Marie had taken her out with one kick to the guts. Apparently, she had even broken two of her ribs. Toga was angry about that, for the last week he heard her muttering about how she wanted to skin that wolf-girl alive and wear her pelt. Right now, she was leaning against the wall a good way away from him examining her knives, she didn't want to get second-hand smoke inhalation. Pyromaniac finished his cigarette and snuffed it out before walking over to Toga. "So, you really think this will work? The idea of some little girl getting rid of Quirks is a little far-fetched to me," he told her.

"Oh trust me," Toga said, "She's the real deal. Izuku-chan saved Eri-chan from a…Yakuza gang, the Shie Hassaikai, their leader, a germophobic bastard named Chisaki Kai used her to make Quirk erasing bullets. Me and Twice saw them use it on this one Hero, Lemillion. It worked perfectly. We got the rest of their bullets, and Chisaki's notes on how he did it. We need more if our plans are to succeed, Eri-chan is the key to realizing all our dreams." Toga twirled around like a ballerina as she explained all this, her knife never leaving her hand. "But now that those Heroes have her, they aren't letting her out of their sight. We got word that she was leaving U.A. Campus and thought she would be easy pickings. But those students ruined everything. So now, we might have to raid U.A. to get her, meaning we'll need all the power we can get."

Pyromaniac nodded, "What about that one dominatrix chick, Midnight? Ain't she gonna be there? We aren't gonna get far if she uses her knockout gas." Toga shrugged with her creepy 'I'm just a cute Japanese student' smile and said, "I'm sure Shigaraki will think of something." They were interrupted by the sound of a whistle going off. That was the signal. Pyromaniac and Toga quickly spotted the freighter they were waiting for. Toga pulled out a pair of binoculars from a bag she was carrying and looked. "Their dingy is on the way here. Get ready," Toga told him. Pyromaniac focused, getting mentally ready to use his fire if he had to as he stood next to Toga.

The small boat pulled into the docks and two people got out, one looked like a man and the other was a tall woman, at least six feet tall with a long ponytail down her back. Both were dressed in dark coats, pants, and boots. The man and woman walked closer and Pyromaniac saw them more clearly. The man and woman both had blue skin, as they got closer, he saw they had similar facial features and matching red eyes, possibly siblings. The tall woman looked like she was in charge as she walked up to them and pulled out a green vial from her coat. "Which one of you is in charge?" she asked in English. "That'd be her," Pyromaniac answered in the same language, and then told Toga in Japanese, "You're in charge as far as she's concerned. Act the part, Onee-sama."

Toga got a serious look on her face and said, "How do I know that this is real?" Pyromaniac repeated the question in English and the woman said, "Because I made this. I call it 'Alpha Red'. You take it orally, and your Quirk is boosted for the next eight hours, or you empty your bladder; whichever comes first." Pyromaniac repeated this in Japanese to Toga and Toga said, "Prove it." Pyromaniac repeated her words in English and the woman sighed. "My brother and I both have the same Quirk, Ice Maker. We can't make much however, or for long," the woman said. She lifted her hand and made a handful of ice, but then dropped it. She appeared to be sweating and breathing heavily from this.

Pyromaniac translated what she said to Toga and the woman continued, "My Alpha Red increases your Quirk's power by 2000%. As long as you only take one vial then you won't suffer any side effects." The woman then proved her point by opening the vial of Alpha Red and drank it down herself. Every vein in her body stood out for an entire minute, before they returned to normal, though her eyes were now bloodshot. The woman brought her hands together and formed a sphere of ice that kept on getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger until it was almost ten feet tall!

"Wow," Toga said in English. "What do you think?" she asked Pyromaniac. "Could be a trick…but my gut says it's real. She's clearly sweating too, she's a thinker, not a fighter. But if someone who knows what they're doing had it…" he just smiled, wondering what he would be like with his powers so enhanced. Toga nodded and walked over to the warehouse while Pyromaniac kept his eye on their contacts. "So," he asked in English, "If things work out here, you want to get something?" The woman snorted as she eyes him, "I've read up on you, Pyromaniac. You're the kind of guy that justifies the invention of the taser." Pyromaniac smiled and nodded, "That's not exactly a no." The blue-skinned woman laughed, "I'm not exactly like most women."

He wasn't surprised she knew who he was; his face was all over the news after he killed Wolfheart, Hero Killers in America were surprisingly rare, especially ones that managed to get out. The woman said, "I'm Maeve." Pyromaniac nodded, and Toga came back with a briefcase full of cash. "You can check it yourself; $500,000 United States Dollars, as agreed," Toga said as she gave Maeve he briefcase. She handed the briefcase to her brother, who checked it. "This is my brother, Connor. He's a man of few words," she explained. After twenty seconds, Connor looked up and nodded at Maeve. "I suggest that we go separate ways for now, lay low. You're not our only customers," she explained. "Alright," Pyromaniac agreed, and watched as the Quirk drug dealers got back on their boat and left.

"Let's go," Toga said, then pulled out a burner phone, "We got it." At once, a large black portal opened up in front of them, and they walked in.

 **Electroshock**

Denki landed hard on the ground and let out a gasp of pain as the air was driven out of him, before Marie took his right arm and squeezed his elbow between her powerful thighs. He quickly hit the ground with his free hand, "I give! I give!" Marie let him go and then helped pull him up. "You're getting better," his blind girlfriend told him, "Getting in more blows, not making it too obvious what you are doing. BUT! Your reaction time still sucks." Denki nodded, "You're telling me."

The two of them were practicing in one of the empty grass fields that dotted U.A., sparring in hand to hand combat. Marie told him that she was willing to teach him the basics of fighting, but that the best teacher was experience. So, here they were after an hour of sparring, both drenched in sweat, he more than she. Both were wearing the basic school gym uniform, but he was wearing the shirt, while Marie had hers off, only her sports bra preserving her modesty. He'd be lying if he said that the sight of her body covered in sweat wasn't distracting.

Marie stopped to roll her shoulders and cracked her neck, "Think you can keep going, or are you done for today?" Denki took a second to breathe, he hadn't had such an intense workout before; Marie overwhelmed him with better speed, technique, and sheer physical power. However, he wasn't going to give up, he was the man in this relationship, he had to show it. Denki assumed a stance she had showed him, knees slightly bent, dominant side forward, hands up to protect the face, while his elbows were down to protect his ribs. He defiantly said in English, "Come on!"

The Electric Hero in training barely moved back in time to avoid Marie's kick to his head, and tried to grab her leg, but it was already down before he could grab it. Marie's other leg was aimed at his stomach, and Denki barely blocked it in time, letting out a short kiai to tighten his core muscles. Denki quickly ducked under a haymaker punch and answered by moving forward and throwing a jab-cross combo. Marie blocked both his punches and deflected a kick to her stomach and grabbed his ankle. Denki realized what was coming, and before his back hit the ground, he hit it with his arms like Marie had shown him.

He quickly made a decision and kicked with his free leg to Marie's left knee. Marie stumbled in shock and let his other leg go, allowing him to roll back up and seize the chance to get her. He tried to tackle her to the ground, but Marie sidestepped him easily. "Nice try," she told him, then got on top of him before he could flip over, grabbing one of his arms and twisting it behind his back, and putting one of her knees to his kidney, incapacitating him, "But that was such a big move that you'd need more surprise for it to work. I tried it on Mirko, that's why I lost to her."

Marie then wrapped an arm around Denki's neck and rolled over, getting him in a neck lock and then wrapping her legs around his, making it impossible to move. "This is called the 'Rear Naked Choke'," Marie explained as she tightened her grip on him, enough to let him know how screwed he was. This is one way to choke someone out, very quickly. But, if someone like me tried it on a guy like you in real life, you could easily use your Quirk to zap them off, knocking them out instead." Denki managed to grunt, "Is that so?" He then realized that a lot of Marie's body was covering a lot of his body, it would be child's play to shock her now.

She squeezed him tighter then, and for a second, he thought he would black out before she let him go. "That said, you need to use your Quirk quickly, or else your opponent could incapacitate you first," she said. She then sighed and sat down next to him, "Yeah, I'm done now. Teaching and sparring at the same time are exhausting." She got up and started patting the ground to look for her gym uniform shirt. Denki saw it and said, "Marie, I got your shirt here." He picked it up and held it out to her, and she grabbed it. It was times like this that reminded him that Marie was handicapped in many ways.

"Thanks Denki," she said before taking her shirt and putting it back on. She grabbed onto his hand and pulled him into a kiss. Denki was flabbergasted but managed to keep from looking like an idiot when Marie said, "Lead on, I can't remember the way back to the dorms from here." Denki nodded, "Right," and walked hand in hand with Marie back to the dorms, lightly blushing the whole time. _This is so awesome! I don't think any other girls would be this forward… I feel like a stud!_ "So, Denki, you don't seem too put out that your girlfriend's bald," Marie said suddenly, "You got a bald woman fetish?" Denki just laughed, "No way, but, well, you can't help that you needed to have your hair shaved. And it's starting to grow back."

He lifted up and patted Marie's head, feeling the fuzz that was already growing in. "What do you think I should do with it? Grow it out as long as it used to be, or maybe keep it shorter?" she asked as they kept walking. Denki thought about it, "I'm not really sure. I mean, long hair for a girl with your close-range Quirk isn't practical, someone could grab it and use it against you. But then again, you survived before with long hair, and Mirko's hair's pretty long too, but she made it work out. It's kind of like capes almost; some people say they're impractical, others make them practical, and others don't even bother with them. It's really your choice, I'm not much of a stylist when it comes to hair, see?" Denki leaned his head closer to Marie to let her pat his head like he had to her.

Marie ruffled up his messy blonde hair all over, feeling it and seeming to picture it as she felt it. "You've got some spiky hair, boy," Marie chuckled. "It's my Quirk, all this electricity in me makes it almost impossible for me to comb it down, and if I use gel then it could set it on fire, or break it," Denki explained to her. "I get that," Marie explained, "having heightened senses can suck sometimes, bad things smell worse, and loud sounds are a nightmare. Plus, you can sometimes hear things you wish you hadn't." Denki asked, "Like what?" Marie bluntly, and quietly said, "Like what your parents are like in the bedroom." "Oh God! UGH!" Denki quickly said, blushing furiously. He could feel Marie's hand heat up too, he could tell from her body language that she was really embarrassed, "Yeah." They reached the dorms just then and Marie gave Denki a kiss on the cheek before heading to her room, and Denki headed to his.

After taking a shower and getting dressed in plain white t-shirt and black sweatpants, he headed to the kitchen. In the living room of the dorm he saw Sato and Todoroki were making something, Uraraka and Mina were looking through a magazine together, while Midoriya and Kirishima were playing a fighting videogame. Denki grabbed an apple from the counter and started eating it, when someone slammed the dorm's main door wide open. "So tell me, Rookies," Mirko's voice commanded, "Where's Wolfheart at?" "M-M-Mirko!" everyone yelled in amazement at having the Number Four Hero there. "Come on, I don't have a lot of time to talk to her, where is she?" Mirko demanded again. "Sh-she's in her room, we just got done sparring, and we were cleaning up," Denki said. Mirko walked over to him and said, "So take me to her room then."

Denki quickly stood up, "Yes Ma'am!" and led the way to Marie's room. "What do you want with Marie?" he asked as they walked. "I'm thinking about taking her on as a work study student," the Rabbit Hero said. Denki saw that she had a piece of paper and a stamp with her, and also how short Mirko was as well, he was easily a head taller than her, not counting her rabbit ears. They reached Marie's room and Mirko knocked on the door. "Coming!" Marie said and opened the door.

She stopped when she took a quick smell, "M-Mirko!? Come in! Come in!" Marie was so surprised she was speaking English and only got her point across through gestures. "CanIgetyouanythingIgotsweetteaunsweetteapeachteaall of it is cold I hope you don't mind but…" Marie stopped flailing and said, "You didn't understand any of that, did you?" Denki and Mirko shook their heads and Mirko said in Japanese, "Not a word." Marie took a breath and made the same offer of tea in Japanese, and more slowly and clearly. Mirko accepted a glass of unsweetened tea while Denki had sweet tea. Mirko sat on Marie's bed as she drank her tea, "Alright then. I'll just cut to the chase; I want you, Wolfheart, to become my work study. I'll be staying around here for a little while, say a month.

"You've got some potential, Rookie. So, I'm gonna polish you until you shine. But I'm not gonna go easy on you, pressure is what makes diamonds, and I'm gonna put you through the worst training of your life," Mirko told Marie. Denki swallowed as he heard her talk, thinking about Marie's already intense training regimen, and wondered what could possible be harder. Marie swallowed too and said, "When do we start?" Mirko stamped the paper she had and then pulled out a pen. Denki helped Marie find the line to sign on, and just then Midnight burst into the room! The Eighteen Plus Only Heroine saw what had happened and sighed, "I was afraid you'd do this."

"I can handle this, Mom. I'm being more cautious now; I'm not going to make the same stupid mistakes I made that got me in the Hospital again. Mirko and I have similar Quirks, we're both have animal traits and need to fight close-range. If anyone can help me improve on what I've got, it's her," Marie told her. Midnight nodded, "This is your choice. It's clear you've thought about this, so I won't interfere. All I'll say is, you should take the lessons Mirko teaches with you with a grain of salt." Midnight turned to the Rabbit Hero, who stood up, crossed her arms and smirked back at the taller woman. "If anything happens to my daughter, Rumi, I'll never forgive you," was all Midnight said before she left the room. Mirko's smirk actually dropped as she took the paper and stamp from Marie, "I'll come pick you up tomorrow."


End file.
